The Origin of the Sealmasters
by iwishiwashinasboyfriend
Summary: Naruto's mother is one of the last descendants of the great Sealmaster clan. After her clan was destroyed she came to Konoha for a new life. A small child with a difficult life ahead of her. This is her story. Part one is finished
1. When Strangers Meet

**Disclaimer: This fic will be a slight Final Fantasy VII crossover. I do not in any way shape or form own Naruto, or any characters from FF VII, but I do own all my OC's, and my clothes that I'm am wearing while**

**I'm typing this, and my snacks that are dissapearing while I'm eating them, oh yes I OWN them! I'm a total phsyco! Enjoy the story. Note I've double spaced everything to make easier to read.**

**The origin of the Sealmasters**

**Book 1**

**Chapter I When Strangers Meet**

In the country of the waves a young fisherman named Tazuna was coming home from a good days catch. He was very satisfied with his work today and decided to take the scenic route home, he was sure his wife and 2 year old daughter wouldn't mind that much, he'd still be home in time for dinner.

He was walking through the forest when he saw a man who was probably around 19, carrying a sleepy little girl around 4 on his shoulders. They both looked tired and hungry and the young man was barely keeping on the path to town. Now Tazuna being the kind man that he was, decided to see if they were alright. "Hello stranger, are you alright? You look

like you've jus' come out of a fight with a Kreel, and I'd say the Kreel probably won." (Kreel is a dangerous fish native to the mist country only, it's average size is about 10 foot long.)

The man looked up, now Tazuna could see them more clearly, based on the fact that in the evening it was difficult to see in the quiet darkness of the woods. The man and the little girl both had spiky red hair, and Tazuna couldn't tell if his eyes were blue or green. The girl's eyes were closed so he couldn't tell what color her eyes were.

"Oh, I'm sorry kind sir, I didn't notice you were there. Could you point which way the nearest village is? I've been following a path but I'm not sure if it is the right one or not." The man said.

Tazuna looked him over and decided that the man would probably collapse before he even made it to town. So he said: "Well you're following the right path but its quite a ways till you reach town, although my house is far closer and I'm sure my wife would welcome the company, besides she always makes more than my and my little angel can eat anyways. How about you come over to my place and if you feel up to traveling you can leave after dinner."

The man considered this and said: "Well normally I wouldn't want to intrude, but little Yuki-chan hasn't had anything to eat in 4 days so if you don't mind to much, I would love to. At least for dinner I can pay though."

Tazuna waved him off. "Nonsense. Why should you pay for food that I would have to throw out? You'd be doing me a favor really. I guess we should hurry, its not healthy for a growing

child to go for days without food. lets go. I could carry her if you want."

The man went into a sort of protective stance over her, but then calmed down. "Sorry but I think I will, to many bad things happen when I let her out of my arms." With a shrug, Tazuna led the

way to his house, wondering where they had come from if this man had money to pay for food but hadn't been able to feed the little girl for 4 whole days.

When they reached the house Tazuna yelled "Honey, I'm home! But I'm too weak to make it past the door, I think I need an angels kiss to give me strength." His little daughter came running full tilt into him. BAM! She jumped into his arms and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. "Daddy! Why did you take so long getting home? I missed you."

He laughed: "Haa ha ha! Well my angel, some travelers needed some food so I told them to come over here for a bite to eat. Hey honey is that alright with you?"

A fairly petite black-haired woman came out of the kitchen, "Yes dear, tell them to wash up dinner will be ready in 10 minutes."

Then Tazuna turned around and said: "Hey uh... you know what? I forgot to ask you name." The red haired young man looked up with eyes greener than any emerald could hope to be and said: "I apologize my name is Zal. Ukriz Zal, and the little one is Ukriz Yuki.

We've been traveling for quite a distance, and I heard there was a village near here." Now that Zal was inside and Tazuna could

see him in the light, he noticed that the young man was about 6'4" but probably only weighed 160lbs. "Hmmm" He mused "He is

well built, obviously works for a living, and the clothes he wears seem to blend in with whatever his surroundings are." Zal wore black pants and a black long-sleeved shirt, with a dark crimson swirl on the back. His pants had alot of deep pockets that seemed to be full of something. He also wore a crimson belt that formed the body of a dragon, with a buckle as the head biting its tail. On his head he wore a bandanna that was also crimson with a strange black symbol. Yuki also wore a suit that was identical but had blue in place of crimson and she wore a hair ribbon instead of a bandanna.

"Well" Tazuna said, "while we wait for dinner to be ready, would you like to share a bottle of sake with me? Not alot, but just a little something to wet our mouths for dinner."

Zal thought about it then said, "Well I suppose it wouldn't hurt, as for dinner Yuki-chan will

probably be really hungry, but I have very little appetite so I'll probably not eat very much." With that Tazuna went into his room and found his favorite brand of sake.

On his way back he wondered. "That Zal fella' always seems to be staring at something behind you, or maybe even inside you. An odd fella' that one." When he got back to the living room his wife Chemari was already setting the table.

"Tazuna, you better not be having sake before dinner!"

He took a step back, "Um, of course not. Whatever gave you that idea?" She

grabbed the rolling pin and smacked him on the head. "Oh I don't know,

maybe it has something to do with **THAT SAKE BOTTLE YOUR HOLDING IN PLAIN SIGHT**!!" He looked like a fish that had just realized that juicy worm was connected to a nasty looking hook. "Uh, this is fer' later, comon do you think I'm stupid enough to drink before dinner after I've been married to you for 4 1/2 years?" She looked like she was about to grab something else besides a rolling pin.

"We've been married 5 1/2 years not four! And as far as do you look stupid enough, is a fish stupid enough to get hooked again after it just got free from a different fishermans line? And should I count how many times that you have been stupid enough to do just that in the last week?" Well she had him there but never one to give up easily he thought of an escape route.

"Uh, well actually this sake is for that young man named Zal, I'm sure he's dieing of thirst so me being the kind soul that I am wouldn't want him to die for lack of liquids." She look slightly pacified but then whacked him on the head again.

"So you thought that you would force that poor boy to have sake when water would be better for him? I must call the police, and report that some thief stole my husband's last few braincells." She said with a smile.

He put on a pouting look and said "So then you agree it's not my

fault, but that of some random thief?" She just laughed and said to bring the guests to the table as they must be starving. Yuki ate with wild abandon while Zal only finished one plate. When they were done Zal stood up and said "I thank you for your hospitality

but I suppose we should go to town now so we can get some sleep, before we head out tomorrow morning." Chemari kicked Tazuna under the table in the shin, very hard too.

He winced and said "I don't think that would be a good idea, Yuki-chan over there

looks like she could use some sleep and you look like you need to hit the sack pretty bad yourself, so why don't you both stay over here tonight. As a matter of fact I insist, besides it would take you at least a half hour to reach town so thats just that much more time you could be sleeping. Besides if you plan on leaving town the only way off this island is the same way on, by boat. So tomorrow I could take you myself before I go fishing." Zal looked about to decline, but turned and noticed Yuki asleep with her face on the table and he decided it couldn't hurt.

"Alright but I insist on paying you for the food and board." Tazuna thought about it and came to a conclusion. "Alright, but we don't want money, why don't you tell me about you and little Yuki and about where you are heading and I'll consider it even." Zal agreed and he and Tazuna went out onto the porch for a drink of sake while Chemari cleaned the table, Yuki went to sleep on the bed in the guest room.

"Well" Zal began "I don't know what to talk about really, I'm a mercenary so to speak, and I go from town to town looking for jobs. I'm thinking of going to either the village hidden in the leaf, or

the village hidden in the sand, but I'm not sure yet. We come from the mountains far north of here, its not even in one of the four great countries. Yuki-chan and I are the last of our clan, and I'm hoping to find a place where she can be safe without bandits at every turn. Thats why I'd like to go to one of the hidden villages, I'd have work and she wouldn't have to leave the village where

she'd be safe."

Tazuna decided to let his vast expience talk for him (Which when it comes to shinobi is less than none), "Well they are both strong villages though I'd say the leaf village is probably stronger and gets more missions, not to mention that the hokage there is nicer to outsiders than the kazekage of the sand. And frankly I hate the desert anyways, not enough fish."

Zal laughed quietly "No I don't suppose there are alot of fish that swim in the sand, I've never seen any thats for sure."

Tazuna laughed alongside him for a little while then decided to ask a question. "Well you say you're a mercenary, but you don't carry any weapon

that I can see, how can you fight people without any weapons?" Zal look at him and replied "I carry all my weapons in scrolls, I have too many to carry them all in the open. And seeing a complete stranger walking towards you with a bunch of swords and stuff has a tendency to make people run screaming they are under attack by a bandit." Tazuna had to agree that was true, if he'd seen him

armed to the teeth when he first saw him, he'd probably have turned around and went back the other way. Not that he was a coward, but he had a wife and daughter to worry about, he couldn't get himself killed yet. Still something was off about this guy, and the more he thought about it, the more it had to do with his eyes. But he had no clue what.They bade eachother goodnight and

went to bed, the last thoughts Tazuna had when he went to bed was of those deep green eyes, staring through him as if he was made of glass.

The next morning he got up to get ready to go fishing and he noticed the smell of his favorite fish, mini-shark only one bone in its whole body and the meat was unexplicable. He hurried to the kitchen and gave Chemari a goodmorning kiss. "Hello beautiful, if you cook that kind of fish every time we have someone over I might just have to make Zal and Yuki stay. She laughed and told him to wake them up so they wouldn't miss out on the best dish in the wave country. Although he was tempted to let them sleep so he could have more for himself, he couldn't bring himself to deprive a poor soul of the greatest food this side of the fire country. "**ZAL, YUKI GET UP FER' YER TOES GET CHEWED OFF BY WATER-MITES!" **

"Daddy do you have to shout so loud?" Tazuna looked over to see his daughter rubbing her sleepy eyes.

"Of course I do, I had to make sure they heard me didn't I?" Zal walked in the room

chuckling.

"I think every shinobi in the village hidden in the mist thinks that there was someone screaming bloody murder in there ears." Mumbled his daughter.

"Awe I wasn't that loud" Tazuna said.

"No your right, not bloody murder, just agonizing torture." Said Chemari, "Now get your

butt's in here before the fish gets cold." They looked over and saw Yuki sitting at the table, Tazuna had to check his memory to check if she had been there the whole time but decided she wasn't and realized she must be really silent, "Well like brother like sister I suppose." He mused to himself. After breakfast they thanked Chemari for the delicious food and headed into town, Yuki

riding on Zal's shoulders again. Tazuna noticed that after a shower last night her hair came down to the bottom of her shoulder blades. "Pretty long hair for a 4 year old, do you use some kind of new shampoo or something? Chemari is always looking for a way to grow her hair longer faster." Zal just smiled and shook his head. "No, she just takes after her mother."

They made good time and got to the docks 5 minutes before Tazuna thought they would, so they managed to reach his boat before the other fishermen, and

got first choice of the fishing spot, all he had to do was mark it with a bouey for after he dropped them of again. The trip across was quiet and the wind was just perfect, so it promised to be a good day for fishing. Tazuna was in high spirits when they said

goodbyes, the only thing that tripped him up was as he was heading back to his spot to go fishing was the image that kept going through his head, his last close up glimpse of Zal, just before Zal turned around Tazuna noticed something, Zal's eyes... they weren't green anymore, they were blue.

Zal decided that they would check the leaf village first, and if he didn't like it there they could always go to Suna. Unfortunately on the 2nd day out they encountered a small group of bandits. At least it was unfortunate, till he found out they were led by a missing nin from Konoha that Zal recognized from his bingo book named Kergeal Zephim, then he realized that they might just have the leverage to get into Konoha without to much trouble. "Ahh, a traveler, well if you fork over your money and the little girl I'd be happy to spare your life, after all young girls sell for good prices in the lightning village."

Zal merely looked at him and smiled, "Why would I do that? After all your head will bring me at least enough money to spend the night at a decent inn. And I can sell your belongings to a pawnbroker somewhere for a little extra cash."

Zephim growled and pulled out his two katanas and rushed Zal intent on killing this smug idiot before he even knew what hit him.

"Ha! you call that an attack? I won't even bother with using any good jutsu's. In fact I think I will kill you before you can even do three jutsu's" Zal taunted. He then pulled out a scroll and summoned a sword about 6 foot long and 8 inch's wide. "However I will grace you with my 2nd favorite sword, it was given to me by my fathers best friend, a guy named Cloud Strife."

Zephim disappeared and reappeared behind Zal slashing at blinding speeds, Zal just side-stepped and spun forcing Zephim to block. The force of the blow sent him flying towards a tree but he managed to spin and land feet first. He then went through a set of hand seals and

shouted: **Fire Style: Blazing Kunei of the Inferno Jutsu **and launched a dozen flaming kunei at Zal, as they approached him he went through his own set of seals and shouted: **Fire Style: Phoenix Form Jutsu **with that his whole body went ablaze as he grabbed each kunei and flung them back at Zephim, dumbfounded by a jutsu he'd never seen before he just managed to dodge as

they set the tree he had been standing on, on fire. While he was in midair he noticed a ball of flame heading towards him, unable to dodge he used another jutsu, **Water Style: Condensed water bomb Jutsu **He watched in relief as the water bomb completely engulfed the fiery form, but his relief was shortlived when he saw Zal emerge from the middle of what had been the fireball, Zephim

quickly drew his swords again and spun hoping to force Zal on the defensive. Zal however drew his arm back and struck with a blow so strong that Zephim's swords shattered into splinters, Zal kept driving his blow and sliced Zephim from shoulder to hip, cleaving

him in two. The entire fight lasted only about 60 seconds. The rest of the bandits stood there and watched as their famed shinobi leader died by a man that was young enough to be most of their sons, they considered for about 2 seconds then charged Yuki hoping to at

least avenge their leader by killing her. As fate would have it, even though she was too young to use any real taijutsu, she had learned a few ninjutsu's and she wasted no time using one of her favorites. **Fire Style: Fire tempest of Fury Jutsu. **A huge whirlwind of fire erupted from her mouth and through them like they were dried cotton, only two of the 13 of them survived, and they were quickly dispatched by Zal.

"Good job Yuki, but next time use a smaller jutsu, that took up enough of my chakra when I'm already low that I'd prefer not to have any big fights till I can at least get a good meal, after all I've told you before, overkill is a waste of chakra. But I'll let it slide this time because you preformed that jutsu with such good chakra control that you only used twice the amount of chakra needed, whereas normally you've had to use up to 4 times the amount for that jutsu. So it just says how much you've improved. Another reason you want to be careful is people will know that someone your age couldn't possibly have enough chakra to pull off a jutsu like that, and they might figure out our bloodline limit, and we don't want that to happen. Alright lets go." Yuki just nodded her head with a slight pout, but got silently back on his shoulders and they headed once again towards Konoha.

At the gate of Konaha a young Jounin with white hair sat looking extremely bored. "Why does Hokage-sama make me watch this stupid gate when I could be watching all the pretty girls that are enjoying themselves in the hotsprings right now. It's not fair I say, sometimes I think he does this on purpose just to keep me from enjoying myself." He continued to grumble to himself throughout his shift, then when he had five minutes left and was getting all excited because soon all the pretty girls would have the honor of

having been peeped on by the number one Jounin, Jiraiya the greatest pervert this world had ever seen! Someone knocked on the gate. "Oh no, if I have to run through all the protocols required it might take me 10 minutes! I can't wait that long. Hmmm well if I

ignore whoever it is for 5 more minutes my relief will get here and they can deal with it."

As the five minutes passed Zal began to get irritated, gates were supposed to have people guarding them, and be there to answer them when someone wanted entry. Wait! There was someone on top of the gate, and he looked like he was hiding! "Well either he's taking a nap on duty, or he's ignoring me. I have an idea that will rectify both problems." with that he threw a rock the size of his fist and hit the figure dead

center in the face. He then watched as that figure dropped like a box of rocks and landed face first on the ground. "Oops. Hope he's ok. It would be bad if I killed one of the gate guards, I don't think they'd be very keen on letting me in then, not without an escort to

jail." Yuki ran over and poked him with a stick, when he didn't do anything she decided to do something that Zal once told her really hurt (just to see if he was alive). She kicked him as hard as she could in the balls. Now Yuki wears steal plated boots with spikes on the bottom, because they climb mountains alot, so when she kicks you, you really feel it. He curled up in a ball like a rolly-polly and said something along the lines of Kami having forsaken him.

"Yup he's alive, though I don't think he's gonna be able to open the gate for a little while." Jiraiya just groaned now he understood why male cats ate their young, kids are nothing but pain, lots and lots of pain. About this time a Jounin named Tsunade showed up expecting Jiraiya to blow past her saying something about how some women had no respect for other peoples time as he always did. So when she showed up and he wasn't even there she had to do a double take. Sure he hated doing anything that took away from his "ME" time but would he actually leave his post? Well she wouldn't put it past him. Then she noticed him on the ground below and a little girl just in time to see her kick him in his family jewels. Her first reaction was to stare in shock, then she was rolling around clutching her sides trying not to die laughing. Zal heard her outburst and

waited till it subsided when he asked.

"Um hello would you be the new gate keeper? This one was either asleep or just ignoring me and frankly I've had a long trip and would prefer to get a bite to eat sometime before my hair turns grey." Tsunade stopped laughing and said she'd be right there. When she got down she asked what business he had here, he said he was a headhunter and hoped to collect on a bounty for a missing-nin he'd killed recently, and to see if they had any other work for him to do. Tsunade

checked his paperwork and saw everything was in order. "Very well I'll take you to the Hokage, he can tell you if there is a bounty for the missing-nin you killed and show you any missions we might have for someone such as yourself." She opened the gate and they followed her inside. Jiraiya was left on the ground forgotten, poor guy he wanted nothing more than medical attention right now, he was in so much pain that he didn't even care if it was a really pretty medic-nin.

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**AN: Hah! sorry it was so short but I figured I'd get it done as a base then build up from there, chapter two will be way better, (I hope) but how will the Hokage react to Zal and Yuki? Will Zal really turn out to be on a job to kill the third? And if so, will I follow the storyline and say he failed, or change it and say that konoha got another hokage to replace him? Did Jiraiha get to the hospital before he's sterile for life? And will I ever get a girlfriend? To most of these questions you'll find the answers in chapter two. But as for the girlfriend, We may never know...**


	2. Be Strong little one

**AN: I finally got around to editing chapter two, darn me and my tendancy to put everything off till later. Read and review! Enjoy.**

**Chapter II "Be Strong little one"**

Zal and Yuki followed Tsunade to the Hokage's tower, on their way a trio of young ladies noticed them, a blond, a pink haired girl, and a girl with violet hair. The blond whispered something to the other two, and they all started giggling. Yuki looked confused and Zal tried to pretend he didn't notice. When they made it to the tower Tsunade took them straight to the Hokage. After they entered Zal wondered if they had entered a storage room by accident, mountains upon mountains of papers, enough that it looked like if you breathed wrong they might all fall on top of you.

"Hokage-sama we have some visitors from a different country that wish to see you, one of them is a mercenary and I thought he could be helpful for, well, you know the possible argument of the four siblings." (She's referring to the impending great shinobi war, but trying to do so without Zal knowing what she's talking about.)

"Ah, well yes any help would be greatly needed, however we will not pay an outrageous price, so please be reasonable." Came a disembodied voice from somewhere behind the stacks of paper. Then a man that was in his late thirties or early forties, stood up from behind one of the mountains of reports. "Ah yes a fine looking young man, I like him, I think we can have him replace my old secretary, I think he will be good at alphabetizing, no?"

Zal's eye twitched, he couldn't be serious, could he? The Hokage took one more look at him and burst out laughing. "Haahh ahah hah, you should have seen the look on your face, no I wasn't serious, I was just joking. But yes we could use an extra hand around the border, but first lets discuss your price. How much are you asking for a long term contract?"

Zal didn't even hesitate before replying. "I don't want money except for individual missions, as for overall, I would like citizenship for myself and Yuki-chan, she needs to be around other kids her age so she can have a decent childhood, perhaps not an easy one. But a childhood nonetheless. That's something I will not be able to give her if all we did was keep traveling around from place to place. So while I'm not the type to settle down in one place normally, I wouldn't hesitate for her sake."

"Hmm. I see, well I will give you a trial citizenship, you will be followed by anbu 24 hours a day for 1 month. If you prove trustworthy by then, then I will issue you full citizenship. Take this permission slip down to the front desk and they will have you fill out the proper paperwork. Then if I were you I'd see about a place to live. Oh! And before I forget it says on this report that you killed a missing nin by the name of Kergeal Zephim, he was a chunnin level missing nin and you can pick up payment for him at the front desk as well. Please enjoy your time in Konoha, and I pray that you follow all the rules."

With that the Hokage handed Zal a slip of paper and disappeared behind another mountain of "perfectly good fire starting material, that was going to waste" as the Hokage was known to say from time to time. Zal wanted nothing more than a shower and his bed and Yuki felt like she hadn't eaten in weeks, poor little girl. Growing kids need their food. At the front desk the clerk gave them a tired smile, he looked like he'd slept about as much in the last week as an insomniac on speed. They filled out their paperwork and received an envelope with the bounty for the missing nin. The clerk suggested a few places with houses for sale and told them to hurry, as the owners would probably be going to bed in and hour. Zal and Yuki said thank you, and hurried out as fast as two strangers who have never been in that town before can go. Which was to say stopping and asking directions every five minutes. Finally they made it to the first house's owners home, and realized that if they couldn't buy this one tonight, they'd sleep in a hotel.

Zal knocked and the door was answered by the pink haired girl from earlier. She said "Oh! Um... hi how can I help you?" Zal asked "Hello, are you by chance the owner of the house down the street? I'm Zal Ukriz and I'm looking to buy a place and was hoping to get one tonight."

She looked slightly startled then recovered and said "Yes. I am although I didn't expect someone to want to buy it so soon, I just put it up for sale yesterday. The price is 80,000 ryo, I know that might sound expensive but here in Konoha that's actually cheap."

Zal just smiled then said "I'll take it, would you like that right now or tomorrow?" She stared at him in shock. "Do you mean to tell me you're carrying around 80,000 ryo, on your person?"

He laughed "Yes, I do. In my line of work I travel alot. and not all towns have the same banks, so rather than hope a town might have my bank, I just carry all my money around on me."

Again she stared at him. "But isn't that dangerous, like you could get mugged by bandits." He smiled as he remembered their little encounter with a group of exactly what she described. "I take my chances, but you still haven't answered my question yet."

She looked at him with a blank look on her face, (She'd forgotten what it was he came here for in the first place.) Then she smacked herself. "OH! Sorry, I got off track, um. How about tomorrow, then the bank will be open. Is that ok with you?" He agreed and she gave him his key. After she closed the door she slumped down. "Damn! He's hot! And he's got the cutest little sister in the world. I hope he's single." With that she decided to call her best friend. RING! RING! "Hello?" "Hey Midiroiko Yamanaka, you know that hot guy we saw this afternoon?"

A sleepy voice said: "Yea what about him?" "Well he just bought my house that I put up for sale, IN CASH!" "Good for him, Rukia do you have any idea what time it is? IT'S BEDTIME! I'M TIRED! A girl needs her beauty sleep."

Rukia snorted "Yea your right, if that's what you need to do to get pretty then you better not wake up for about 30 years, then you might find a hermit who's delusional and desperate, enough to think that your better than nothing."

Midiroiko gasped "OK thats it girl! Your going down! But first I'm sleepy, so I'll get you first thing tomorrow. Can you wait that long?" With a laugh she hung up. A pink haired Rukia Haruno also hung up.

"First thing she'll do tomorrow is find out what all I know about him, then she'll see if she can make a move before me. HAH! Not gonna happen! But she's right I need my sleep too."

Meanwhile Zal and Yuki took their first look around inside of their new house. It was a nice place. Not the Ritz but more than adequate. Yuki claimed the master bedroom on the main floor while Zal was content with a smaller room on the top. They said their goodnights and went to their rooms. Zal lay on his bed thinking about their past.

_-------Flashback------_

_He stood there facing his brother. They were both breathing hard, both fighting like nothing else mattered. To one of them, nothing else did matter. Their clan was dead. His brother had killed them all because he was refused the assistance in the performing of their ultimate Jutsu. No one would be the partner he needed, they all said "I'm sorry but I cannot, none of us is capable of being your partner."_

_So he killed them all, all except for two others than himself, and not them because right now, in order to kill the younger one, he needed to kill the older one, his older brother. Even on his best day he had never beaten his elder brother. And right now he was weak from fighting the rest of his clan. needless to say he was far from his best day right now, but Zal didn't go easy on him for it. _

_Quite the opposite, Zal was enraged from what his brother had done and determined to kill him at all costs. But his brother didn't feel like dieing today, and therefore was not fighting just to kill, but to survive at all costs. Over and over again they attacked eachother, using eachothers weaknesses as only one who had fought you innumerable times could do. Relentlessly they fought for 3 days and nights without rest._

_But Fatigue catches up to even the best of us, and both of them now fought just to stay on their feet. The traitor brother fought for his life, Zal fought for revenge. The bloodline limit that their clan was famos for was practically useless against one of their of own clan, therefore they were both about out of tricks. But Zal had enough chakra for one more jutsu. **Dragon style: A dragons last stand **Chakra once again surged through his body, but not enough yet, he activated his bloodline limit and gathered a little more chakra, enough for one final strike. _

_Energy began to collect in the palm of his hand, as he focused on one thought. Destroy the one who took away everything that meant anything in my life. The traitor looked in horror. "Why would you use that jutsu? You know what happens afterword, and thats if the impact doesn't kill you too." _

_Zal laughed at him, the laugh of a man who is hollow inside because all the things he once held dear were shattered into pieces so small, no tool could ever be used to put them back together again. "I use it because you took away everything from me. I will now take away that which is most precious to you, so even though I can't kill you right now, I can at least do this. It will be worth it to me."_

_With those words he finished the gathering of energy. **Secret Technique: Forced Rebirth **Zal rushed towards the traitor with a black glowing mass of chakra, the traitor struggled to get out of the way but barely made it two steps before falling to his knee's, he looked back in terror. "NNNOOOOOOOOO!!! I can't lose all the power I've gained! I've worked so hard! Don't do this to me!"_

_Those were his last words before the pulsating darkness was shoved into his chest. His eyes glazed over and his body began to glow. For one instant his eyes looked as innocent as they had when he was a baby. Then a bright light and Zal knew no more. Zal woke up to feel a weight on his chest. "Thats odd, I don't remember getting another cat." Then he opened his eyes and remembered everything the battle the loss that preceded it, and the pain of knowing all the people he would never see again. but when he looked up he saw what was on his chest was not a cat, but little Yuki-chan. "Well, you appear to be as heavy as always." he said with a smile. She looked at him with tears running down her face, she took one look at his face and burst into tears again._

_She kept saying one phrase over and over again, a phrase that she said out loud, and he said in his heart. "I want mommy back."_

_-------End Flashback------_

He lay there on his bed, once again seeing all the faces of those people that he would only ever see in his mind. Their home would be relatively intact if he ever decided to return, but he doubted that he would ever go back to a place that reminded him so much of what he had lost. KNOCK KNOCK! He looked over at the door. "Yuki, since when did you ever knock before?"

The door opened and Yuki came inside, in her arms she held a green stuffed dragon that was apparently very old, the stuffing was coming out of the ears and both eyes were missing. "Reh? Hahahah! I didn't know you brought him. I thought he was thrown out long ago. Hmmm? Is something wrong Yuki-chan?" He just noticed that her eyes were sparkling with tears and she look very sad.

She nodded and said "You were remembering what happened weren't you? When Iku was so mean and killed everyone. And remembering that he isn't dead but will come back to haunt us later."

Inwardly he cursed himself, for a moment he forgot that when they were this close his thoughts tended to be transferred over to her too. "Your to young to think of bad things like that, you should think of happy stuff, like when you used to play with the dragons when they came to visit. And when I would take you to go see the top of Chesirji peak, and we would have a picnic and spend all day up there. Besides if brother comes for you don't worry, I'll protect you. And thats an Ukriz promise."

She smiled sadly and said "But who will protect you? I know your the best, but your not at full strength and won't be till you..."

"Ssshhhhhh! You never know who is listening. And yes I know I'm not at full strength, but neither is he, and I will be better than ever by the time he dare's show his face around here again." That seemed to consol her somewhat, but he could see something else was wrong. "Your not telling me something. What is it?" He asked.

She looked like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar, and said. "Well... It's just, well its a new place and all. And I was wondering if I could sleep with you tonight. Just for tonight please I don't want to be left alone again."

He put on his brightest smile and said "Well why didn't you say so? You must have known that even big boys like myself get scared all by themselves at night and you wanted to comfort me. Alright, but if you tell anyone I was too scared to sleep by my self, I won't teach you any new jutsu's for a month!" Then he smiled again and crossed his arms in finality. She giggled and jumped on top of him, bowling him over and giving him a hug big enough to block out the sun. "Ok, well we both could use some sleep so, bedtime." Then he lowered his voice and started speaking in a really spooky voice. "Make sure you protect me from all the scary things that creep and crawl or they might eat me up!"

As he said that he made a little bunshin of a spider crawl down her back then he tickled her in the side, She squeaked and tunneled under the blankets. Funny she killed 11 men the other day without hesitation, and yet squealed at the sight of creepy crawlies. With a laugh he turned out the lights and went to sleep.

In the morning he woke up just before it was light out. After all to sleep in is a sign of laziness. And one thing you could never call Zal, and that was lazy. He noticed they still had some of the food they had left over from the last town they were in, but nothing appealed to him. Then he decided to find a place to warm up before he started the day. He walked outside and checked out the surrounding area. He noticed a field not that far away that had some logs set up in the ground, and figured that must be a training area.

Once there he thought about how he would train today by himself, he had none of the equipment he usually trained with at home. And no partners, Wait a sec! Who ever said no partners must have forgotten about the Anbu that would be following him everywhere he went for the next month. He smiled and began setting up for a genjutsu. The two Anbu watching him couldn't help but to be interested in what he was doing. He was drawing strange seals on the ground with his finger, and then imbuing them with chakra. He smiled when he finished and started to go through a set of hand seals, when he finished he whispered the name of a jutsu: **Art of Deception: Lost in my mind **He then disappeared and reappeared in between the two Anbu. "Hi boys, lets have fun shall we?" He grabbed each their shoulders and they suddenly felt the world twist as if it was a bad moment in the twilite Zone.

When everything went back to normal they were deep in a forest. They heard a voice coming from all around. "Ku ku ku. Now it will be only too easy. With you two behind me, nothing stands in my way of killing the Hokage while all of Konoha sleeps. Ku ku ku. Lets play a game shall we? You try to kill me, before I kill the Hokage." They couldn't say they were surprised of what he was saying, after all they were stationed to follow him in case something like this happened. What surprised them was that he was making a game of this. They swore to stop him if it cost their lives, and they would follow through with that promise no matter what. They saw a flash of black and immediately attacked. The younger one went in for Taijutsu combat while the older one prepared some complicated ninjutsu. The younger Anbu wore the mask of a wolverine, to represent fearlessness.

The older Anbu wore the mask of a Baboon to represent wisdom. The wolverine attacked Zal, as if Zal was a man flirting with his wife. Zal caught a punch with his left hand and turned with it, spinning and delivering a powerful roundhouse kick to the Wolverines head. The Wolverine partially blocked the blow but was sent flying towards a tree, he suddenly pulled on something with his right hand and changed direction in midair, and flew to the ground landing on his feet. Then Zal noticed that the Wolverine had embedded wires in the ground with kunei, and could probably use them for other things too. He was right he just ducked behind a treetrunk as several kunei flew past where he had been standing. The Wolverine came around the other side of the tree for a surprise attack and that exactly what he got, a surprise attack. Zal dropped from above delivering a bonewrenching kick to the Wolverines skull. The unfortunate Anbu crashed through several branches before laying unmoving on the ground. The baboon had just finished a very long jutsu and unleashed its fury on Zal. **Shadow Arts: The reapers servant **A figure rose from the Baboons shadow and took the form of a very lithe man, who is made completely out of shadow, it opened its eyes and another shadow rose to form a sythe in its hand.

"Wow, thats an extremely high level jutsu, and that figure is also impossible to kill. This could be interesting." Then the spectre came at Zal in a speed which can only be described as ungodly. Zal summoned a katana from a scroll and parried a blow that would have left him quite capable of "Being in two places at once". He was forced to stay completely on the defensive as by striking the shadow you would go right through it and leave yourself open for a counter attack. The spectre only seemed to increase in speed as time went on, and yet Zal never got struck even once. As it got faster so did he, to the point that even the baboon was incapable of following their movement, the only way he even knew they were still fighting was he could feel it through his bond with the Spectre.

"I must end this fast, that Spectre is taking up to much chakra for me to maintain much longer. Must think. He seems to be much faster than anyone I've ever met, I've never met anyone who could keep up with my Spectre. He also seems to have incredible strength, so therefore I must assume his weakness lies in ninjutsu and genjutsu. I have little or no chance of hitting him unless I use a wide area ninjutsu, and I don't have enough chakra left for that. So Genjutsu it is, just something to throw off his vision a little so he missblocks and gets sliced up by my spectre."

He went through some one handed seals so he could maintain his first jutsu with his other hand. **Shadow Arts: Swarm of the Shadow crows jutsu **A silent swarm of darkness flew towards Zal and covered the area completely, The baboon waited as long as he could but ran out of chakra, the last thing he saw when the crows disappeared was Zal standing over him with his katana in hand. "Ku ku ku, that was fun but this ends now." Then the baboon saw no more.

The Wolverine woke up to find himself with a few bruises but still alive. "Oh no The Hokage! I've failed him."

He heard laughter and looked to the source. "Yes, if I had actually meant everything I said then you would have failed your mission, however I just wanted some sparring partners and you guys were awesome, the reason I said all that stuff was because I wanted you guys to go all out and not hold back. And if I was just a regular ninja I'd most likely have died. But I'm fit as a horse, so I'm gonna go take a shower. Um, I guess you guys can use it too when I'm done if you want. Well later." Then he walked off. The wolverine was debating on following him or staying and informing the Baboon that it had all been a trick so he didn't rush off to the Hokage's tower to "Hope he was in time to stop the assassin."

Meanwhile, Yuki just woke up. For some odd reason every time she wakes up her hair looks like she's about to get struck by lightning. She walked into the kitchen with mussed hair and a green dragon under her arm, just in time to see Zal come back. "Oh, hey sleepyhead. I'm gonna use the shower then you can right after I'm done, I'll go shopping afterwords for some real food, till then you can eat the leftovers from the trip." She just nodded like she wasn't awake enough to know what he was saying, but knew he was talking to her. Again he laughed and went to refresh himself.

When he got back he said "Hey yuki-chan, today I gotta' go to the Hokage and see if he has any missions for me, and I also need to find out what age you can enter the ninja academy, just because I won't ever be a ninja is no reason you shouldn't." She hoped that this academy would teach all sorts of cool jutsu's and stuff like Zal-sama did. "Well while I'm gone you can explore the village, just don't get lost or go outside the village, ok? I got to go now, I'll see you when I get home, bye Yuki-chan."

Yuki watched as he left, then she took a shower and decided to go exploring. Once out of the house she realized just how big Konoha was. It was HUGE! Bigger than any of the other villages that they'd been to before, and so many stores. She walked starry eyed past store after store of ninja equipment, till she came to a certain store that carried a huge variety of weapons. She stood with her face pressed against the window for a long time till she heard a voice behind her.

"Hey, I'm not certain but I think if you press your face against a flat surface for to long, your face will become flat to." With a gasp she jumped away from the window and looked around. She saw a blond spiky haired boy around her age staring at her with a very serious expression on his face. "Hmmmm, well I think your safe this time. Your face doesn't look flat, but you should be careful, you wouldn't want to have a flat face for the rest of your life. I can't imagine many people taking you seriously when your face looks like a badly sculpted piece of clay."

She glared at him, then stuck her nose in the air and started to walk off. "Hey! Did I say something? Oh come on, it was just a joke. Tell you what, if you forgive me I'll show you a really cool place. You'd be the only person I've ever shown. So you have to promise never to show anyone else ok?" She stopped and looked at him suspiciously, he looked like he wasn't trying to trick her so she decided to give him one chance. "So you'll come? Cool. OK, follow me."

With that he took off running (as fast as a four year old can run that is), she followed without to much trouble, thanks to her training with Zal, but even then she found out he was really fast. Eventually she was completely lost, she could follow him but there was no chance of turning back. Suddenly they came to a clearing. "This is my special place. Only you and I know about it, and now you'll see why it's so special." He walked to the edge of the clearing and pointed, she followed and then looked where he was pointing to, and drew her breath quickly. They were on top of the thirds head, well his carvings head. It was so high they could see the whole village. "But as cool as this is, it's not even the best part."

She was caught, hook, line, and sinker. She had to know what could be better than this view. "What's the best part?" He smiled and told her to just watch for a little while. In about a half hour she saw what it was he thought was even better, and she had to agree. The sunset was framing the whole town but even better, there were random fountains scattered throughout the town, at least they seemed random from below. But from here The water sparkled and you could see a pattern, the town was the face of the most beautiful woman she had ever seen.

"That's Sango, The princess of Konoha. And you and I are the only ones who remember her, She protects this village from harm. And she blesses us with unending happiness, as long as we swear to protect this village with our lives, which I will do. Because I Akira Tsikyn Will be hokage someday! And I swear to protect this village with my life." When he said those last words Yuki saw something that felt almost like a dream, but what she saw was more like a nightmare.

_----------------Vision---------------------_

_The whole village lay in ruins, a man rode on top of a giant toad doing battle with a huge fox. The man had blond spikey hair and threw blow after blow at the fox, but only managed to hold it back so some villagers could escape. When they were all gone he stopped for a second, and said "I made a promise long ago to protect this village with my life, not just this village but also certain people in this village who mean the world to me. That time has come, I hope the one who will battle you for his entire life will be viewed as the hero he is. And that he will be strong enough to do things that I'm incapable of. Fate has decreed that you would attack this village, just as it has decreed that I will die to preserve the life of my son, and his village. My father-in-law would be proud of my mastery over this jutsu, I will show it to you now." He went through some hand seals, and shouted a jutsu, before she saw something that shocked her to her core. She saw the Shikigami, she had only heard about it in legends and yet this man had summoned it! She realized that he would indeed give his life for someone, and the last words she heard before she passed out was "Be strong little one."_

_--------------End vision-----------------------_

**AN: I hope you liked it, sorry the end was kinda rushed, but still basically follows the storyline, chapter three should be done soon, and you find out that Zal while practically a god of close combat, has a extremely potent weakness. But what will it be? And you find out the full extent of their bloodline, But what all is it capable of? Will Yuki's brother get to see their father, whom he hasn't seen in years? And will I ever get any good at writing stories? read chapter three and maybe just maybe, the wisdom you seek will be found. Or maybe it will be only two lines long and you'll kill me for false advertising.**


	3. A Weakness revealed

**AN: Cause i felt like it i just checked my stats**

**Chapters Words Reviews Hits The Origin of the Sealmasters 3 15930 11 467 stat break down by chapter**

**1 4335 7 283**

**2 5061 2 92**

**3 6534 2 92**

**Massive decrease:( I'm guessing not many people liked my unorganized paragraphs etc. also I noticed... 92 HITS ON CHAPTER 3! And yet I only have 11 reviews, thats sad people, comon if you've read as far as chapter 3 at least leave a review, I dont care if all you say is "Hmmm looks intresting, i hope you update soon" at least i know what you that you read it and what you thought! Oh well, please gimme reviews I'm beggin you! (Note, no more saying "Put your stuff in paragraphs" I got that already, but thanks i will work on it when i get better at figuring out how. I hope you enjoy :D**

**Chapter III A Weakness revealed**

Meanwhile with Zal. Zal arrived at the Hokage's tower and was greeted by ten Anbu. "You will come with us." They said. He nodded.

"I wonder if their still mad about this morning, well if they are oh well, I'll just explain myself and hope they understand." He followed them to the Hokage's office.

"Hmmm, I have a report here that says you attacked your Anbu guards and then threatened to kill me. What do you have to say for yourself?" He stood silent for a few minute thinking of how to say what he wanted to say, when he was ready he took a deep breath and said.

"It is completely true. I did attack them, and I did say I was on my way to kill you, however I have my reasons for doing this. One, if I had decided to kill them they can testify that I had them at my mercy. Two, if I planned to kill you then I would have come here right after our battle. Three, the reason I did that was to get them to fight me without holding back, there's no point in training if they would hold back on me. Also there was no problem with casualties based on the fact that I cast a genjutsu before our battle, and so all our combat happened in a location that doesn't exist. Therefore there is no property damage either. And lastly I was bored and felt like a sparring match. There you have it, that's the truth but it's up to you to decide what to do with it."

The Hokage sat back in his chair. "Hmmm, while it seems you are speaking the truth, if you want a match in the future come to me and I can arrange for someone to spar with you. However threatening the Hokage is a serious offence, one not taken lightly in a ninja village. However based on the fact that you did not kill them or make an attempt on my life I will let you off easy, by only doubling your guards. You will have four Anbu following for the rest of your trial period, and don't attack them, a second offence will be punishable by death. No exceptions. Now I have a mission for you, it will also be a sort of test as well. There is a man by the name of Otanko Kunrie, he is a businessman and he is selling weapons to bandits that raid travelers, you are to go to him and ask him to stop, if he refuses... kill him There are no other options, I have sent other shinobi to him and he has said he will stop, but continues after they leave. This is his last chance, make him stop, one way or another."

Zal nodded, and said "Based on my mercenaries code, I must have all contracts in writing, I am unallowed to give out any information of my client without direct permission from him, or in this case you, if I fail to accomplish my mission, I am required to take one mission of your request for free. If I accomplish my mission but not by whatever time we agreed to, all money from that mission is returned to you. If I kill anyone not covered in the contract then one of two things will happen: if it is a civilian, my payment is to be docked accordingly, if it is a mercenary under his hire I do not charge you extra unless it is stated in the contract. Are these terms acceptable to you?"

The Hokage listened to his contract and nodded his head when Zal finished. "Those terms are acceptable. You have three days to accomplish the mission, one day for each trip and one day to do the mission itself. Are we agreed?" Zal nodded and produced a scroll that had the terms written on it.

"Please sign here Hokage-sama. Thank you, I will be leaving within an hour, I will meet any escourts you have for me at the gate." With that he left the tower and headed home to grab his equipment, on the way home he remembered he needed to pay the pink haired woman the money for the house, he better do that before he stopped at his house. He stopped at her door and knocked. No one answered. "Hmmm, she must be out. I know! I'll let myself in and just leave the money on her kitchen table, no wait, that would be trespassing, and I don't think I will get many more screw ups when it comes to rule breaking. I guess I'll just leave the money at home and have Yuki-chan deliver it later tonight." He hurried home so as to get all his stuff together and talk to Yuki. He opened the door and found no one home, "Damnit! Is no one home today? OH! I forgot, I told Yuki to go explore town, I guess I'll just leave her a note." He hurried and got his mission gear together and then left a note on the front door for Yuki. Then he headed to the front gate to meet up with the Anbu.

When he arrived he was right on time, but apparently not all the Anbu were. Three of them had showed up but one was missing. The Baboon and the Wolverine from before were there and a Bear was there too. Suddenly a poof of smoke and the forth Anbu showed up, He had the mask of a sloth. "Sorry, I discovered that I was tired and decided to take a nap. No harm done I'm only about 50 minutes late so no problem right?"

Zal looked confused till the Baboon leaned close and whispered, "He's always about an hour late so we told him he had five minutes to be here, he's almost on time this way." Zal sweatdropped and decided it was probably best not to speak as he wasn't sure what he would say. So he just nodded and gestured that they should be going. He took the lead and headed towards the town that Otanko Kunrie was in.

"Well I have been kind of bored so at least I will get a little workout." He thought to himself as they continued on. They didn't stop the first night as he didn't really need the sleep, and if the Anbu needed sleep it was their problem, but they should be able to handle it, or so he thought. An hour past midnight the Sloth started to complain, "Man I'm tired, I hardly got any sleep last night. And we've been going nonstop all day. Can we at least stop for a nap, say about 12 hours?"

12 hours?! Zal just stared at him at first then shrugged his shoulders, "I don't care if you stop, but I'm not going to, so if you want to get left behind then by all means stop."

The sloth looked at him, then said: "Really? You don't mind? Thats awesome. Ok, I'll see you guys on your return trip. I think I'll take a nap right here." The Bear smacked him on the head and yelled at him.

"Baka! Your mask suits you just perfectly! We have a mission and we will all stay through it and finish it. Got that!?"

The Sloth whimpered and nodded his head. "Just a 2 hour nap?" They all felt the killing intent from the bear rise to a deadly level, the Sloth squeaked and increased his pace a little bit. Zal just shook his head.

"And these people were Anbu? I'd hate to meet their genin." Eventually all the anbu started to lag a bit, except for the sloth, for some reason (maybe it was the fear of the bear) but he kept up with Zal with seemingly no effort. Zal wasn't too surprised that they were tired, they had been traveling for 26 hours straight without any rest at all, he was surprised that the sloth could keep up with him. "Hmmm, he may be lazy but his stamina is much higher than most people, I'm itching to test his skills in a fight, but I'd get in trouble if I did so I guess I'll just have to deal with it."

Soon they saw the village in sight, he turned back and told them they would take a 8 hour rest just outside of town before he began his mission. He never was able to sleep just before a mission so he just stared at the stars. As he was stargazing the Baboon came up next to him. "Yesterday morning, when you fought us. You stayed alive against my spectre, that is a enormous feat, and I'm not bragging. I'm stating a fact. However no matter how good you are, you should have died when I summoned the shadow crows to blind you, so I ask you. How did you survive?"

Zal smiled and gestured to lean close like he was going to tell him something special. "It's quite easy really... It's a secret." The Baboon did an anime fall on his head and when he recovered he went back with the others. Zal just continued to smile as he watched the stars. When day time came he said he was leaving now, and took off towards town. When he got to town he asked around where to find Otanko Kunrie, most people looked at him like he was an idiot and walked away, but one helpful person told him just to head to the south part of town and it was the biggest building around. Zal thanked him and headed towards the south part of town.

When he got there he could see why most people must have thought he was mentally challenged, it was easily three times larger than any other building in town. That and it said Otanko Inc. on the front, but he didn't notice that. He went into the front door into the lobby, and walked up to the front desk. "Hello I'm here to see Otanko Kunrie, tell him I'm a mercenary and I'm looking for a job please." The secretary looked at him wearily, she got this type every day. Hotshot missing nin or some kid who thought he was something, or even a bum off the street. All just because Kunrie said he was looking for all the thugs... Um manpower he could get his hands on.

"I'm sorry sir, but Mr. Otanko is in a meeting and therefor it's my job to do the hiring till he gets out."

Zal look at her and smiled pleasently, "Thats fine I'll just wait till he's done thank you." She sighed, they also had a tendency to think that they would only get hired if they talked to Mr. Otanko himself. She hated these annoying thugs, but she had no say in the matter so she just told him to sit and wait on one of the chairs. After about a half hour had passed Mr. Otanko got out of his meeting. He was very pleased, he had just sold another shipment of supplies one of the local bandit leaders for an increased rate, and was going to make a large profit off this deal. He had a note on his desk which said another mercenary was at the front desk looking for a job. His day just couldn't get any better he guessed, he loved hiring these guys himself because he got to use one of his "I am the man, and you will work for me because I can pay better than anyone else speachs." He even decided which one of his pre-written speeches to use this time when he reached the front desk flanked by his favorite bodyguards.

"Hello you must be the mercenary thats here looking for a job, thats excellent I am actually in need of another man on my task force. So tell me what do you specialize in?"

Zal stood up and stretched out a little before answering "I'm afraid you misunderstand me, and at the risk of sounding cliché, when I said I've come here for a job, I've come for you." Otanko Kunrie just realized what he meant and dove for his secretaries desk, It saved his life. A halberd cleaved the bodyguard who had been standing behind him in half. The thugs realized what was going on and all went into action. Otanko originally had four bodyguards, but lost one in the initial attack, leaving three. One of them went straight into a defensive stance in front of Otanko while the other two went into a stance called The Gemini Assault, and went straight towards Zal. Zal's halberd was pretty much a staff with an axe-like blade on one end. The blue haired Gemini came at with a single katana in a massive thrust, which while it seemed to leave an opening when Zal went to take it the other guy came at him from above with a giant mace, Zal shifted his weight to his left foot and pushed off with his right barely avoiding the strike.

The problem was the blue haired guy was waiting strike him as he rolled and swung at him with a diagonal strike. Zal realized he couldn't avoid this one as he hadn't even finished rolling so he didn't try to. He brought his left hand up and grabbed the blade and then beheaded him with a stroke from his halberd, however because he was only able to use one hand to grab the blade he wasn't able to stop it completely, the result? Slicing his palm open and getting blood on the handle of his halberd causing it to become slippery. The thug with the mace however wasn't the type to let Zal tie up his hand to prevent such a thing as losing his grip, and therefore attacked with even more fury than before. Now a mace is a heavy weapon, and a halberd is long and has alot of weight on one end, so they both are weapons made for power not speed, therefore they were pretty much evenly matched except one problem. Zal's grip kept slipping because of the blood on the handle and every time he went on the offence he almost lost his grip completely, so the man with the mace had a slight advantage, at least at first. Till the third thug decided to tip the scales. As the two were fighting then suddenly the man with the mace split into three guys, the problem? None of them were bunshins.

"WTF?! How did you do that? You didn't even use a jutsu." Zal said confused, Zal decided to use some of his own jutsu and did a few hand seals **Lightning Style: Odin's Blessing jutsu **Suddenly lightning surged through his blade and he sped towards one of the figures and struck his head off, he reached the wall behind him and spun so he landed on it with his feet and prepared to strike the next one, when he stopped and stared. The guy who's head he had just cut off was regenerating it. "What the hell? Splitting in three and then regenerating his head? Just what the hell are you?" The guy looked at him like he was crazy, then shrugged and rushed him. Zal was moving at least twice as fast as before and yet every time he hit one of them they just regenerated. And he was using up more chakra than he would have liked. Suddenly the three figures split into thirty, and practically filled the room. Zal was getting angry, nothing was hurting this guy, and now there were thirty of him. Suddenly a thought occurred to him, and he wondered how he could have been so stupid. "Kai!" He said as he watched all the figures disappeared except one. "Well I can't believe that took me so long to figure out, it was a genjutsu. Well game time is up."

Then he rushed the guy who was protecting Otanko Kunrie, and sliced him in half, only to watch him disappear in a puff of smoke and a potted plant appear in his place. Of course the problem with that was that left Otanko Kunrie unprotected, and Zal hated to let an opportunity like that pass. Otanko screamed like a woman who had just discovered a slug in her shirt as he tried to crawl to safety, but Zal cut off his head without hesitation. The remaining two thugs enraged that their meal ticket was now had a bloody stump for a head, charged Zal. Massive killing intent filled the room as Zal turned around and smiled, but this smile had none of the warmth his earlier smiles had, this one said "Your all going to die, and I'm going to enjoy it." He flung his halberd at them causing them to jump back in order to dodge it. Then he summoned a katana and disappeared, only to reappear behind the mace fellow. The thug with the mace turned and the last thing he saw were glowing green eyes with blue diamonds in upper left and right sides and lower left and right sides surrounding his pupils, and a smile that said "I love my job". The third thug did some hand seals and shouted **Lightning Style: Blinding Agony jutsu **and then closed his eyes so as not to be blinded by the resulting lightning blast. When he opened his eyes Zal's katana was at his throat just barely not touching him. "Not a bad jutsu, it causes its target to become blinded for a time and small jolts of lightning travel along your optic nerves blinding you and giving you a massive headache if not killing you outright. But one problem with that jutsu, this katana has a special seal on it. It can channel lightning, I usually use it for my lightning jutsu's but a weaker one like this I can use just as easily. I hope you ready to die."

With that he cut his throat, then he cursed in anger when he had a coat rack in the place of the ninja. "Me and my big mouth, I should have just killed him, now he won't make the same mistake twice." Just as he finished grumbling to himself he doubled over in agony bleeding from his ears, "Hah ha ha ha, so your right if I can't use lightning now I'll just use sound. This move I normally can't use because it's a wide area effect, and therefore dangerous to my boss. But you killed him so I don't think he will complain." Zal managed to look up and see the thug holding a strange looking object, it looked vaguely like a small harp but had holes in the frame and seemed to channel air through them, creating this sound. "The other effects of this, is that you will be unable to reoreintate your self if you manage to break through it. It effects your brain on a deeper level, causing damage to not only your hearing, but also your smell, and sight. You will die now." Then he pulled a kunei out of his pouch and walked calmly towards him. Zal waited till he was about to strike then shoved his katana into the thugs throat. "You made the same mistake as me, you talked to me instead of killing me right away. You gave me a chance to coordinate myself, and my senses. But I won't tell a dead man how I did it so enjoy the afterlife, if you believe in such a thing." With that he grabbed Otanko Kunrie's head and placed a preservation seal on his forehead, put it in a bag and walked out of the ruined lobby. He then noticed the Baboon clapping, "Good job, I must say very good job. But I noticed something. I've discovered your weakness."

Zal looked at him with a look of disdain "Well kudos to you. Then why don't you tell me all about it... after we get back to Konoha." With that he turned and headed out of town. Apparently it was the weekend and the rest of Otanko Kunrie's thugs were off somewhere getting drunk, if they hadn't been this may have ended differently. Zal thought about it and decided maybe next time he'd have to go about things differently, or Yuki might end up completely by herself. Not a pleasent thought. When they made it back to camp he found the other three Anbu standing propped up against trees in a sort of lax perimeter, standing guard as it were. At least thats what he thought, till he saw the sloth fall over snoring, he sweatdropped.

"Um does that guy ever take his job seriously? Just curious." The bear looked over and threw a kunei in the sloths direction. The sloth seemingly oblivious rolled over and it missed him by a few inchs. The bear decided enough was enough, and did a few hand seals **Fire style: Thousand years of pain **and stuck his fingers up the sloths butt. That woke him up real quickly. "Aaaaahhhhh!!! OMG! Make it stop, make it stop!" When he came back down from the tree tops his shoulders slumped and he had a funny walk. (AN: You know the kind, like he just had the worst case of diarrhea and his butt still burns :D) They travelled back to Konoha without mishap and arrived at the hokage's tower at about 1:30 am. They went up to the Hokage's office and knocked. "Hmmm? Come in whoever it is, but if it's more paperwork I suggest you stack it outside the door, I don't think there's room in here." They entered the room and were buried under a pile of papers."Help! I'm being attacked by a super powerful jutsu! The Attack of a million papercuts!!! They all sighed as they heard the sloth complain,as he struggled, then suddenly he stopped. The bear got worried and uncovered him, seemly alright, then discovered what had happened. He was snoring again. The resounding echo woke up many a child that night as they heard the screams of agony that lasted for some time.

When the bear stopped beating him the sloth pulled himself to his feet and reported to the hokage. "The mission was a success, no casualties and only a few major injuries." This last part he said and glared at the bear, only to get told that he was number one by the bear's middle finger. After he flipped the bear a bird too, he continued "Zal has successfully killed Otanko Kunrie and his four personal bodyguards without any aid." Baboon nodded and started to say something when Zal cut him off.

"Listen baboon, if you want to chat about my so called weakness we can do it later, its not important right now. If you want to discuss it badly enough we can talk tomorrow. I'm going to bed I'll pick up payment for this mission in the morning. Goodnight." With that he walked out of the room.

After he left Sarutobi asked "A weakness? And what would this so called weakness be?" The baboon shook his head and said "Well its only a theory right now, but I'm going to try and confirm it off his reaction." With that he proceeded to explain his observations to the four of them, and at the end The Hokage nodded "Yes I can see how that would be both a weakness and a strength, and it shows he must indeed be skilled if he can still fight as good as he does with it. Very interesting indeed, I must find out more about this Zal Ukriz."

Meanwhile Zal arrived at his house, only to find it completely undisturbed since he left. The note he had left for Yuki was unopened, her bed wasn't being slept in, and she defiantly wasn't home. Zal panicked, Where could she be? He didn't know Konoha enough to know where she was likely to be. What if someone had kidnapped her? What if he had been wrong, and Iku had somehow managed to find her this soon? What if GASP?! What if she had been kidnapped... by aliens.

Ok that probably didn't happen, but she wasn't here and he had to find her. Then he smacked his forehead, Ok now he felt stupid... again. He could find her with their bloodline limit. He channeled chakra to the seal on his stomach felt the area for her chakra. Immediately he sensed her in a house on the other side of the village. He rushed off right away in hopes that she would stay put wherever she was. He reached a small house that had one light on in the living room, she was there he knew it. He went up to the door and banged on it several times very hard. It was opened by a four year old blond boy, who looked like he didn't have a clue what was going on.

"Um, hello. Can I help you?" Zal was unfortunately in a bad mood and therefore didn't pay attention to his age, and glared at him while saying.

"Yes, I believe you can. You have a young girl named Yuki inside, when she should be home. And I'd like to know why."

The boy looked at him, "Oh you must be her brother, she's passed out, we were talking and suddenly she fainted for no reason at all. and she hasn't woke up yet, my dad is at work right now, and mom is sick. So please keep your voice down. If you would follow me she is on a cot in the living room." Zal followed wondering what had happened for her to faint, now that he had calmed down he realized he was just talking to a little kid, and the kid was probably more scared than him. When they entered the room he saw Yuki, and noted that besides being asleep, she looked fine. "Well I thank you for taking care of her, but we must go now." He then picked her up, and without another word disappeared. When he got home he examined her for injures or any other reasons why she would have slept for two days straight. But he came up with no answer, it seemed as if she was just sleeping normally. He laid her in her bed and went to his room to think. The Baboon had said he had figured out his weakness, but he wasn't so sure. After all he had done a very good job so far making sure no one found out about it, could it be this guy had noticed something he had slipped up on? "I guess I'll find out tomorrow. I could use a little sleep for now." And with that he laid down and slipped into an uneasy rest.

_Yuki's POV_

I dreamed, brother was coming. But many things kept him from reaching me as soon as I wanted him to. It felt like ages since I'd seen him, he wanted to come see me. But he also wanted to go visit father, but for some other reason than just pleasantries. But I don't care, I haven't seen him in so long I just want to hug him again. I feel like I'm floating, and mommy is holding me again telling me all the great things daddy can do. She tells me how when he gets home maybe he'll teach me a new jutsu or maybe one of the clans secret seal's, a really big one, so big I'll have to use his chakra just so I can do it even one time. But he never minds, nor does anyone else. Everyone is so nice to me, everyone but Iku, he is always so distant like his mind is in another world. He looks at everyone like they are keeping something from him, something he wants really bad. But I'm not sure what, he looks really scary sometimes. But daddy won't let him do anything bad, cause' daddy is the best! He never gets mad, and he loves me and mommy and brother more than anything in the world. My daddy is the head of the Ukriz clan, and the coolest man ever.

I see someone fighting Iku, Iku killed everyone. I've seen death before, but the only people I've seen die before were bad people. Why? Why did you kill them Iku? Why did you kill everyone I've ever known? WHY DID YOU KILL MOMMY? I can hardly see through my tears, that person and Iku keep fighting for a long time, I'm not sure how long, but it's like they never stop. Their starting to get tired, and I see the person glowing as he gets ready for some jutsu I've never seen, but he needs more chakra. I don't have very much, I'm only two and a half years old, but daddy used to help me alot by building up my chakra. So now I will help as much as I can, I activate my bloodline limit, I can't see it but I know my eyes are changing.

I have two diamonds surrounding my pupil, and my eyes are glowing bright blue. I can send my chakra to the man who is trying to kill Iku, it's not much. But I will do anything to help him kill the man who took my mommy away from me. I feel the man accept my chakra, I can't see well enough through my tears to see who he is, and my bloodline limit isn't advanced enough to sense who he is through our link, but I think he will win. He's strong maybe as strong as daddy, no, my daddy is the strongest man ever! Mommy even told me so. If daddy was here he could beat Iku in an instant. It's over the man did something that caused a really bright light, and when the light was gone so was Iku. I'm glad, but now I just want mommy, and daddy, and brother. Is anyone still left? Am I the only one alive?

No. That man is alive, I move closer so I can see his face. I see who it is and run to him and throw myself on top of him sobbing. He wakes up and looks at me. He smiles a sad smile full of pain, the same pain I'm feeling inside. Then he says "Well, you appear to be as heavy as always." I start crying again, I'm not sure if it's because I'm so sad of everything that just happened or because I'm so happy that at least he's still alive, "I want mommy back." It's the only words that I can say because nothing else will go through my lips. He looks at me and pulls me close, I lay on his chest sobbing when I feel something, he's crying too.

"Poor little Yuki-chan, I'm sorry I wasn't able to stop him sooner. I wasn't even able to kill him." His voice is bitter, I can tell he's blaming himself, but I'm crying to hard to say anything right now. "But I'll protect you no matter what from now on, I swear on our clans grave that I will protect you until you get married and have someone else to protect you, Yuki-chan. From this day forth my only purpose in life is to keep you safe. In you are our hopes for the future, in you our clan will rise again." I don't know what he means, but I understand one thing. He said he'll protect me, and if to no one else than me, I know this. He will never lie to me, and he never will, because that is his nindo. That is in fact his ninja way.

I just woke up in my bed, last thing I remember was passing out on top of the monument. Somehow I ended up in my bed, did that boy Akira bring me home? How could he have, I never told him where I live. It's early morning, I'll go take a shower. For some reason I feel like I havn't bathed in days. When I got down to the kitchen I see a note on the table,

_Dear Yuki, I have a mission and won't be back for a few days, here's some money for food and any little items you feel like picking up for yourself, also you'll see a bag on the table along side this note, it has our landladies money for the house in it. If you could please stop by her house and give it to her for me. Shortly after I get back we can enroll you in the local shinobi academy, where you can learn from an actual teacher instead of just me when I'm not busy. I hope you can make some friends there, we'll chat when I get back home. I love you._

_Signed The one and only_

I shook my head, he always signs stuff in the weirdest ways. After I took my shower I decided to head over to the pink haired ladies house, I got there and she opened after the second knock. "Hello? OH! Your that little girl that just moved in, what are you doing up so early in the morning?"

"I was told to give this money to you for the house, um by the way, whats your name?" Rukia realized that she had never introduced herself the other night.

"Oh. I'm so sorry how rude of me, my name is Rukia Haruno I'm nineteen, whats your name?"

"My name is Yuki Ukriz, I'm four and a half, well maybe we can talk later bye!" With that I ran off hoping the stores were open. Luckily most of them were so I was able to stock up on goods for the cupboards and the fridge. After I took them home I went out to explore the town again. I was walking along when I ran into Rukia again.

"Oh, hi Yuki-chan, are you having fun?" I nodded, for some reason I liked her. I think she reminded me of mom a little, not that she looked anything like mom. Mom had violet hair with blue eyes, a odd combination any way you look at it but it worked for her just fine. Daddy always used to say that I had mommy's eyes. I'm not sure cause daddy's eyes are blue sometimes too, but usually they are green. Mommy used to tell me he was the only guy she knew who's eyes changed colors, she said they changed with his moods but I never figured out which moods those were. I think Rukia is nice but I'm still exploring so I don't feel like chatting right now.

"Hi Rukia, I'm sorry but I wanna explore some more right now, can we talk later?" Rukia nodded and smiled to let me know she didn't mind at all. I smiled back and took off, this place was huge. I came to a local playground, that Akira boy was here. I decided to go talk to him, "Hi Akira! How are you today?" He looked at me and stood up.

"Hey Yuki-chan, are you alright your brother seemed aweful worried that you were hurt or something last night..."

"Wait! My brother is here?" He nodded, "Uh huh. He came and picked you up last night, he was kinda scary." I nodded, alot of people thought brother was scary, but thats just because they didn't know him like I did. Brother had the gentlest soul of anyone I've ever met, besides mommy. "Thanks Akira I'm going to go see if brother is still home, bye!" Without waiting for an answer, I couldn't wait to see him, it felt like ages since he'd given me his super-duper-ultamate-big-brother-hug! I practically flew home. On the way I wanted to see if he was really here or if Akira had just made it up, so I activated my bloodline limit, in order to sense his chakra (I've developed it more than when I was only two.) And Akira was telling the truth! I could sense him, but he was outside the village a little ways, he must have gone outside to practice or something. I headed towards the gate as fast as I could go, I can't wait to see him again!

Meanwhile Zal got up only to find Yuki gone again! "What?! Not again. She must not know I'm back yet oh well, I think I'll go train outside the village today." Once he got out there he started to go through his warm up's, when he detected a familar chakra signature, he stopped and turn face to face with someone he hadn't seen in a long time.

"Hello father." Yuki arrived just in time to see her father and brother sizing eachother up, seeing how much each had grown since last time they had met. She squealed and jumped at the person she hadn't seen since they left the smoldering ruins of the clan. "Brother Onaga!"

**AN: Ahahahahahah, did I surprise you? Probably not, it was hard to get through chapter three without having Yuki call Zal father, but I did it! If you didn't see it coming are you a little confused? Good. More motivation to read chapter four when I update. Turns out by some twist of fate that Zal is actually the father of two. But isn't he only like nine-teen? Dang kids getting married so young these days or something. Ok in chapter three, you found out the Ukriz bloodline limit allows them to share chakra with their fellow clanners, but there's alot more to it then that. In chapter four you will find out a little more about it and, some of the other secrets the clan has. Also how will some of the people in Konoha take it when they find out the so called cute new guy is actually a father? And you find out that there are more demons out there than just the 9 great demons, minor demons play a larger portion in our life than we think, but one final question... WHY DO MY EYES CHANGE COLORS? I sure don't know, my mom says hers do to, guess it's my real life bloodline limit. :D**


	4. Blood runs thicker than water

**AN: Sorry it took so long, I work really long hours some days (last wed it was 5:00 am to 12:30 am, so I don't get to spend alot of time working on it. I'm gonna post my stats at the start of every chapter, Why because I can.**

**Stat break down by chapter**

**Chapters One Two Three  
Words 4335 5061 6702  
Reviews 7 2 2  
Hits 351 106 106**

**Lets find out what this chapter is about, I'm just as curious as you :D**

**Chapter IV**

**Blood runs thicker than Water**

Onaga smiled and enveloped Yuki in a huge hug till all you could see was her hair. "Hello Yuki, How's my favorite little sister been?" She smiled back and just buried her face in his shoulder, he turned back to Zal and said "Oh, dad some guys were following you, I wasn't sure if they were friends or foes so I just put them in a genjutsu, they should be listening to you debating with yourself weather or not you should do push-up's first or sit-up's. So how have you and Yuki-chan been?

Zal leaned against a tree and said "We've been fine, I'm going to enroll Yuki-chan in the shinobi academy. I'm not a full strength and won't be for a long time, as you know it's not easy for us to regain our chakraunless certain requirements are met. We just bought a house in town and I would like to invite you to stay the night, but we both know that you would stick out like a sore thumb. I also have no doubt that those nin that you put in a genjutsu will figure it out soon, and you should probably leave before then. We don't want any questions about who or..." Zal smirked before continuing. "Or what you are, untill you arepowerful enough to use at least eight seals you won't exactly fit in, in town. If you ever get powerful enough to use all nine seals you will be the fourth being in history to be able to do so."

Onaga nodded, before saying "Well, as good as it is to see you again, I came to let you know that I've sensed Iku has managed to gain a small portion of his power back. He will most like be back to full strength in 15-20 years,I just figured I'd let you know."

Zal nodded "Thank you son, it's been good seeing you again Onaga, tell everyone that Yuki and I said hi. When Zal finished Onaga put Yuki down and walked over to his father and gave him a hug.

Then Onaga said "Goodbye Yuki, goodbye dad. I'll come visit sometime soon, hopefully I'll have mastered at least the seventh seal by then. Dregorith alsagrim." **(Until we meet again,Note thats not Japanese)** With those last words he dissappeared into the tree's. Zal smiled sadly wishing he could have spent more time with his only son. Then he heard a noise which caused him to look around for it.

Then the four Anbu showed up, the Bear appeared irritated, the Sloth had a limp, the Baboon thoughtful, and the Wolverine indifferent. Zal privatly wondered how to explain that it wasn't his fault for them being caught in a genjutsu, but he doubted that they would believe him.Then he came up with an idea, "Well, you should warn me when your around. If your not carefull you might get caught up in one of the random genjutsu's I have set up around here, even I don't know what you'll see if you get caught up in one of those."He supposed that would have to do.

Then the Baboon replied, "And why would you place random genjutsu's around if not to trap us?"

Zal was ready for this question and said, "For my training. When I get caught I get caught up in my own genjutsu's if I don't know what to prepare for then I have to rely on just my instincts. It's usefull in preparing yourself to be able to pull through unpredictable situations."

Unfortunatly the Baboon wasn't fooled easily, and thought a second before saying. "If thats so then I must ask you something. If you are creating random genjutsu's for training purposes then why do you not have more than one genjutsu placed? Not to mention that people don't just fall under their own genjutsu, it's practically impossible."

Zal sweatdropped, "Shit, I didn't think about that." he mumbled to himself. He unfortunately didn't have alot of time to think or they would know he was making it up as he went. Then he came up with an idea, and said "True but there's reasons for both of those things. One, there's only one genjutsu set up because I havn't had a chance set up the others yet. Two I can fall under the effect of my own genjutsu because I use seals to create them, therefore they become selfsustaining and are independant of me." "There" He thought to himself. "That should convince them."

Of course that just piqued the Baboons interest. So thenext thing the Baboon said was "Really? I would like to study some of these seals. It sounds like they could be a great boon to the village."

Zal looked at him for a moment before saying "I'm sorry, but these seals are clan secrets. Therefore I'm not allowed to teach you or anyone else outside my clan."

The Baboon appeared dissapointed, thought it's hard to tell behind the mask. Then he noticed Yuki standing there."So Mr. Zal, with all these random genjutsu's around, why is it that you have a four year old little girl right in the center of them all?"

Zal replied by saying "Thats easy. As I said before I havn't set up all the genjutsu yet, so she is safe for the time being. Before I set up too many I will send her back to town. And just why is it your business whether I have her here or not?" The Baboon shrugged, and then all four Anbu moved a safe distance away to observe him. Zal gave Yuki a hug then sent her back to town. After she left he proceeded with his training. After his training was done he headed back to his house fora shower. When he got back Yuki was gone again. "Hmmm, I wonder if she's with that blond boy. Oh well, I'll go collect my bounty for that guy I killed the other day and then maybe I'll have a look around town." He went to the Hokage's tower and arrived at the front desk."Hello, I'm here to collect a bounty on this guy" With that said he plopped the seemingly fresh head of Otanko Kunrie on the desk. The desk clerk looked revolted, but to her credit didn't quite throw up.

When she recovered sufficiently she said "Yes, right here actually. Just fill out this paperwork and I will give you however much money is required."

Zal sweatdropped, then said "Um, I'm sorry. I'm probably going to sound stupid but... I can't read."

She looked at him like he was crazy, then said "Are you serious?" When he nodded she replied "Ok then, just give me what information I ask and I'll fill it out for you. You'll just have to sign the bottom." He nodded and answered all her questions. At the end he scribbled at the bottom and collected his reward.

After he left the tower he debated on where to go first. Then he heard a familar voice. "Hey Zal-sama! Wait up." He turned around and was greeted by Rukia, the problem is he never had gotten her name so when she got there it was kind of an awkward moment.

Rukia spoke up first "Hi there, sorry but I forgot to introduce myself before. Myname is Rukia Haruno, I never caught your name either." Zal told her his name and asked here where the local library was. She thought for a second before answering "Hmmm, the library is located on the south side of the village. If you want I could take you there, I've got nothing else to do right now." Zal decided it would be easier if she showed him and agreed. When they arrived she asked him what kind of books or scrolls he was looking for, he answered anything to do with seals. She took him to the back and showed him an entire row of scrolls dedicated to seals. after he grabbed about 10-15, they sat down and chatted for a little while. She asked him things like what he liked to do, what kind of food he liked, where he came from. Etc. And for every question she asked him, he gave a fairly vague answer. Eventually he loosened up a little and would answer her questions more clearly, and she felt she was starting to win him over.

After a few hours he stoodup and thanked her for her time, then stated that he needed to meet Yuki at home. They both went their separate ways. Meanwhile earlier that day with Yuki. After she left Zal in the woods she wondered around Konoha for a little while. Eventually she ran into Akira. "Hi Akira, what you doing?"

He looked up and ran over to her, then he said "Nothing much, just lookin' to play a game with someone. HEY! Yuki, you wanna play wid me?"

She thought for a second, then said "Sure, what are we gonna play?"

He looked excited for a second then sweatdropped. "Uh, I forgot." She looked at him for a second and laughed, he laughed along with her while scratching theback of his head sheepishly. Then he brightened up and said "OH! I have an idea! Lets go build sand castles at the playground!" He looked at her like he should be congradulated as some sort of genius, of course them both being four years old, she thought he must be. Therefore she agreed and they went to the playground. When they got there they decided that whoever made the biggest sandcastle, could make theother person do one thing. They both agreed. About a half hour later, Akira's sandcastle was almost as tall as him. Yuki's sandcastle was...barely managing to keep from falling over at 2 feet tall. Yuki conceeded defeat and asked what she had to do. Now Akira already knewwhat he was gonna ask cause, some guy in a ninja suit earlier that day told him he'd treat him to dinner if he could find out exactly whereYuki and Zal came from. So he said "Ok! Now you have to tell me everything about yourself. Where you came from, who all your family is, and all that other good stuff."

She was about to protest but he said "What? Your not gonna back out on our deal are you? If you had won I'd do whatever it was you asked me to do, don't tell me you go back on your word?" She was hooked, no way would she ever go back on her word! Her daddy never went back on his, and she wasn't going to be a bad example for their clan.

So she told him everything that a four year old knows about herself and her clan. Which is alot of some things and basically nothing of others. She told him that she had a father and a brother, she told him that most of her clan had been killed by her uncle. But the thing that made him wide eyed, and awestruck, was when she told him about their bloodline limit. "Our bloodline limit makes it so I can share my chakra with anyone else who also has mybloodline, also for those of my family that I'm really close to I can kinda tell what their thinking if they are close by. But I don't know how on that yet either. I do know that the stronger my level of control is with my bloodline, the more chakra I can send through at a time. One of the cool things about using my bloodline is that I don't just get to use my families chakra. When we send chakra to eachother through our bond, it picks up excess chakra along the way that isn't being used. Like when someone uses to much chakra, it gets picked up too, and nature produces chakra too, so we get chakra from it as well. But theres one thing that kind of scary..." She lowered her voice to a whisper "When we kill someone while using our bloodline limit, a small portion of their chakra goes to us... permanatly. My daddy also has like a ton of seals all over his body, I don't know what most of them do, because he says I'll understand when I get older. But I know some of them suppress his chakra, he says it helps him get stronger. I'm not sure how making yourself weaker makes you stronger, but if he says it, it must be true. Also I have a seal on my stomach that daddy put there when I was just born, he says it kept me from dieing."

She leaned back again "Pretty cool huh, but I want another try to beat you at the sandcastle, same rules." He was still awestruck by everything she just said, and just nodded his head mutely. Unfortunatly he wasn't paying enough attention this time around and she won. As he headed home that night her final words were ringing in his ears. _"The thing you have to do for me is... keep everything I just told you a secret."_

When she got home Zal was waiting for her. "Hello Yuki, did you have fun?" She nodded, then walked to her room and got changed. When she was done she met him up in his room, because she could sense that was what he wanted. When she opened the door, she found him sitting on the floor with a ton of scrolls strewn all over the floor. He looked up as she came in, and smiled before saying "Ok Yuki, it's time for us to learn some new seals. Could you please pick a scroll and read it to me?" She nodded and picked up a random scroll. It may seem odd that a four year old little girl can read, but Zal made sure that she got taught by different people to read, so that she could read for him. The next few hours they she would describe seals to him and read their descriptions, then he in turn would tell her what those descriptions meant. She may be able to read, but she's still only four. Therefore she didn't understand everything that she read untill he would relate itback to her in simple terms. They had been doing this for about 6 months now, and she was learning all kinds of new seals this way. Afterthey got done with their "nightly session" they sat down to talk. Zal began by saying "Yuki-chan, you turn 5 in a month. Soon I'm going toenroll you in the academy. We won't get to spend as much time together. Just remember, only use jutsu's that they teach you there." She jus nodded, being such as little kids are. She assumed that at the academy they would teach her all sorts cool new jutsu's. The next thing Zal said took her off-guard "Hey, uh Yuki. We both know I can't see colors, and I was wondering... what color is Rukia Haruno's hair?" (AN:Hahahaha! Did you guess he was color blind? Imagine all the problems that poses for a ninja? You try noticing the difference between a camoflaged tripwire and regular background when you can't even see colors!) She looked at him before asking him why it mattered. He answered "Well, for anyone I am around it would be a problem if they asked me what color I thought their hair looked like and I didn't know."

Again being a four year old she didn't think about the question in depth, like why would he need to know one personshair color, but no one elses? Of course she just said "Her hair is pink, her eyes are green. And she favors pink and red clothing usually." He nodded, and thought for a little while longer. He was just about to ask her another question when he noticed she had fallen asleep. He decided that one more night of letting her sleep with him would be ok. Not long after he lay down himself he felt sleep drift over him.

_Flashback Zal POV_

_I'm coming home after a long mission, I haven't slept in a bed in five months. I haven't had a decent bath in three or even a dip in the river in a week. I smell like sweat, grime, and blood. It had been a successful mission though so I couldn't complain. As I walk the final stretch home I watch the autumn leaves blowing in the breeze. The colors were possibly the most beautiful things I've seen in my life. Of course I loved my son and daughter, in my family just because I love them doesn't mean I think they are beautiful. No, nature is beautiful. Nature creates life with a exquisite cycle, and nature takes life away in just as beautiful of a way, and by doing so provides life to something else. I made it to the gates. They opened to me without hesitation. After all, who would tell the leader of the clan to halt and identify himself. I ignore the guards that bow to me as I pass, they mean nothing to me. All the people bow to me as I pass, I nod occasionaly. After all it is my due, I am the clan head. I deserve respect._

_ I smell something as I pass the clan's waterfall on the way to my estate. What is this thing that I smell? Then I notice it's just some females playing in the water. Females have never interested me, I'm not gay, I simply have no interest in relations with anyone. My blood is pure, and undiluted like these mere commoners. I start to turn away but one of the females scents catches my notice. It seems to light me on fire, and burn me from within, searing every inch of my body. I took a closer look at her, she has violet hair and light-blue eyes, for amoment she looks into my eyes. I feel like I am getting sucked in, I can barely break free. I pause and look around for the remaining effects of a genjutsu that I am sure she cast on me. I find nothing. I hurry as fast out of there as I can, which means to walk at a slightly brisk pace. The clan head does not run, not unless it's towards a battle. And most certainly he does not run from a female, no I have... important things to do at home. Like a shower, and sleep. Yes, sleep would be nice._

_ After I get home I take a long shower. While I am toweling off I remember where I have seen that female before, a banquet held in honor of her 18th birthday last year. I remember now, yes. I remember clearly. She was the one who had Kyuubi's two tailed daughter sealed inside her when she was born. I smile as I remember the anger of the legendary fox, as his only daughter is captured by humans, and then sealed inside one. He dares not kill her, for his daughter is to weak, and would die as well. I wonder if her fusion is complete, now that she has turned 18. The average age to fuse with a demon that was sealed against it's will is around 18-25 years. The average age to fuse with a demon that you have a contract with it's family, is around 16-20 years old. I seem to remember her mother coaxing me to marry her daughter. The daughter's name was... Maemi. I also heard she had a crush on me. I'm tempted to play with her just to anger the great demon lord, but I'm not sure it's worth the effort to spend time with anyone, much less her. I doubt it, I head to bed and plop down on top of it just relaxing._

_ Then I notice a small fox climb up on my chest, and lay down looking at me. I stare in amazement, don't tell me she sent a fox to me in hopes that I would think of her?! It certainly was covered in her scent. I get ready to push it off when something happens, something that totally floored me. POOF! No more fox, more like Maemi laying on top of my chest with fox ears and two tails swishing contentedly across the bed. "Yup, she fused it looks like." Of course as suprising as all this is, there's one minor detail that I forgot to mention. _

_ She's naked. Not a scrap of clothing to be found, and the only thing I'm wearing is a towel. Well in the past I've never really been interested in females, lets just say thatall those years of missed hormones decided to pay me back in one visit. I was suprised how soft (And erotic) fox tails are. It wasn't till then I realized that she had a relatively perfect body. She was slender without being skinny, a fairly large bust but not overly so. And skin as silky as her tail (Which by the way, her ears and tail are both the same color as her hair). In the aftermath of our "activities", She fell asleep on my shoulder while I contemplated a whole new look on life. It may sound like my life was changed by sex, but really it was the fact of me seeing her for the first time as something besides a "Female". Now I saw her as a woman, which is a serious change of thought for me. Well I planned to sleep earlier, I guess now is as good a time as any._

**AN: Sorry took so long to get out, last weekend I had drill so I didn't have hardly any time to work on it, I hope you liked it.  
Please gimme reviews, they let me know how I'm doing. I'll try To update at least once every two weeks, maybe even once a  
week if I get extra time off from work. Note: I need feedback, I might die without it, probably won't but anything is possible.**


	5. Divination

**Chapter 5**

**Divination**

**AN: I decided to finally reveal Zal's whole weakness, instead of just pieces. This chapter is pretty short but I hope you enjoy it. I only work on this fic on the weekends now, based on lack of time during the week. I put out information, and then leave more questions for you to stew over till next update. I tried to put this one in paragraphs, if this chapter is easier to read than the others I'll try to edit them the same way. Read and enjoy. **

Zal woke up the next morning, with nothing out of the ordinary. He looked down at little Yuki. With an exception of her hair color, she looked almost exactly like her mother. She was gonna be a heartbreaker when she got older, that was for sure. He got up and took a shower, remembering his dream last night. After Maemi died he couldn't think of anything else, but as time went on he was able to pay more attention to Yuki, and less on his memories. But lately he was starting to dream of her again, more and more. He couldn't think of a reason yet, but he was sure he would figure it out. In the meantime he had stuff to do. He needed to enroll Yuki in advance before school started, and he didn't know who to talk to. It was probably a bad idea to talk to the Hokage about a little detail like that, so he would just have to find someone else. Then Rukia popped into his head. She would most likely know who he needed to talk to, after all she lived here right? Being the fact that he couldn't cook to save his life, he just left Yuki a note to eat whatever she felt like. With that he went for a walk. As he traveled through town he noticed a lack of activity. So he turned around and asked one of the Anbu that was shadowing him, "Why is the town so quiet right now? It doesn't sound like any of the shops are even open."

The Anbu looked at him, his face unreadable behind his mask, and said. "Well duh, everyone is still asleep. It's only 4:00 AM, you should be sleeping too. Not dragging me around at this ungodly hour."

Zal thought for a second before saying "But I'm supposed to be under 24 hour servalence, so doesn't that mean you'd have to watch me anyways?"

The Anbu said nothing in reply. Zal just shrugged and continued to walk. Well he was wide awake now, and he might as well take a early morning stroll. He continued along enjoying the breeze that went through his hair like a caress. The wind was one of the few things he enjoyed in life, being unable to see the colors of the leaves in fall, or the flowers in spring. The wind was one of the few things you could enjoy without being able to see it at all. That and thunderstorms, thunderstorms were his favorite weather. They reminded him of the place he was born, and of his father. Raw power, strong, unstoppable, and quicker than the eye could see. He had grown stronger than his father, at least powerwise. But to this day he had never beaten him in combat, not even once. But what could you expect when facing the most powerfull of the Guardians of Fel. There were 12 Guardians of Fel, one to represent each of the 12 zodiacs. The day he could best his father in combat, he would take the place of the weakest of the Felguards. His father would step down, and each of the other Felguards would move up one position. Which got him to thinking, just who or what was Fel? The only ones who got to know that were the ones who had made the position of Felguard. And were the Felguards protecting Fel from us? Or protecting us from Fel? So many question's that he would only know the answer to if he defeated his father. Worries for another time he supposed. He was walking along the outskirts of Konoha when he noticed someone training on one of the logs. He stayed back a safe distance and observed. The man was moving at a incredable rate, possibly rivalling even Zal. Zal noticed he only used Taijutsu, but he seemed very proficient at it though. He was also using a stance that Zal felt like he had seen before, but couldn't recognize. Zal realized he hadn't had a decent Taijutsu match in quite a while and decided to see if the man was up for a match. He walked forwards toward the man at a lesurely pace, when he got close enough he stopped and waited for the man to notice him. Which seemed instantly. The man turned and stared at him, Zal couldn't be sure based on the fact he wasn't able to see colors, but this mans eyes seemed to be pure white. It was very suprising, but then Zal wasn't sure of that in the first place so he just assumed he was wrong.

Then the man spoke, "I am Wasliks Huuga, may I ask who you are and why you intrupped my training?"

Zal replied with "I apologize for interupting your training, my name is Zal Ukriz. And I noticed you are extremely skilled in Taijutsu, therefore I would like to ask you for a Taijutsu only match."

Wasliks thought for a second before agreeing. Then settled into the same stance that he was using before. Zal settled into a stance that he decided to use for this match, it was called **Dancing Tornado**. They stood there for a second before rushing eachother. Wasliks used extremely accurate strikes that seemed to be using his hand in a straightedge, or otherwise known as flat. Zal's stance called for very little blocking and more of evading and striking right after you evaded. The problem? Neither one of them landed a single blow, at least not at first. Then Wasliks landed a single blow to Zal's forearm, it was then Zal realized just how deadly a fighting style he used. And it was also then that he knew he had fought against this style before, although he couldn't remember where. With that single blow three tenketsu's were closed in his arm, and sending a large jolt of pain traveling up his arm like he had just hit his funny bone. Zal got a little distance from him in order to discover just what had happened. It took a second but when he realized this he knew this could be a serious problem. Luckly for Zal he discovered by expelling a large jolt of chakra through those tenketsu's he could reopen them, the problem? It hurt, alot. Like three times as bad as when they got closed in the first place, he decided then and there to not let that happen again. At least not if he could help it. Again they fought this time Zal put double the effort into evasion. Wasliks used a sweeping kick that Zal did a backflip to avoid, which Zal then did a counter by landing on his hands, and then spinning around and doing roundhouse kicks towards Wasliks's head. Wasliks then dodged them and followed through with a strike towards Zal's stomach, which Zal knocked to the side with another kick.Wasliks would strike a left-hand blow towards him, and he would push it to the side with his left following through by bringing his hand down on the ground and swinging his right leg around for a head strike, Wasliks blocked it by bringing his right hand up and striking his leg with a his left, only to have Zal twirl in mid-air and kick at his face with his left leg, forcing Wasliks to block with his left arm. Then Zal did an upsidedown curl and punched Wasliks in the stomach, which he blocked by jumping off the ground and clamping down on Zal's wrist with both his feet. which left Zal supporting both their weight with only one hand. Now someone who didn't specialize in physical combat might not have been able to keep that up for more than a few seconds, Zal however simply bended his arm like he was doing a upside-down pushup, and then did just that. He pushed up, hard. Which sent them both into the air, Zal was prepared for this which Wasliks was not, and flung Wasliks towards the ground after they were airborn. Then doing a backwards flip righted himself up again, he plumeted towards Wasliks preparing a devastating punch that both of them knew would end the fight if it landed on any part of his body. But Wasliks had no intention of letting himself get knocked out that easy and jumped out of the way just in time. When Zal landed there was a crater about five foot deep, and about eight foot around. Wasliks sweatdropped, that would have hurt. But fine two can play at that game.

"You're within my field of divination, **64 Divine Strikes**." Zal raised an eyebrow, what did that mean? What happened next left Zal astounded, Wasliks's speed trippled. Even most Jounin wouldn't have been able to even see him. Zal wasn't a Jounin, and you didn't survive as a bounty hunter, who had no village to help him out in tough spots. Therefore his skills were alot higher than any regular ninja you would encounter. Wasliks byakugan allowed him see Zal's tenketsu's even at the high speeds he was traveling. "Two strikes, four strikes, eight strikes, sixteen strikes, thirytwo strikes, **SIXTYFOUR STRIKES!**" The probelm with this technique is that due to the fact that you are moving so fast, while you can see your next target tenketsu, you don't have time to look at the tenketsu you are attacking. Therefore you have to tell if you hit your current target by feel. On the good side for Wasliks, when he was done he knew he had made contact with every strike. On the bad side for him, when he looked at Zal, Zal only had two tenketsu's closed, one in each hand.

They were both breathing hard, and Zal spoke first. "I don't think I've ever met anyone that could move that fast before, I barely managed to block all those strikes. I can't imagine what would happen if those had all hit their targets but, I don't think I'd be able to stand very easily."

Wasliks stared at him in shock, the only people who could ever block the divine strikes were Huuga's, and that was because they had 360 degree vision, that allowed them to see all the strikes before they hit. And this man was definatly no Huuga, that must mean the Baboon was right. It was the only way he could see where each strike was coming from. "Well, a normal man wouldn't have been able to see, much less block all those attacks. Then it's true, what the Baboon said. The reason for that is simple, I have just proved the Baboons theory. **You're blind.**

Zal whispered to himself under his breath "What the hell, blind? How did he know? What have I done that has given me away? Must be a lucky guess, there was no way he could know. After all, how could a blind man fight on equal or better ground than Anbu? I know, I'll just find out his reasoning and shoot it down." Then outloud Zal said "And what is your reasoning behind this? Not that I really care, obviously if I was blind I couldn't be one of the 9 licensed bounty hunters in the world now could I?"

Wasliks replied "There is no point in hiding it, I know everything. When you needed to fill out the paperwork at the Hokages tower, you told the secretary that you can't read, which would be true based on the fact that you can't even see. Also a jutsu was used on you previously that should have blinded you, but had no effect, also due to the fact that you are blind. Not only that but I have two more ways to prove it. Can you tell me what color robe I am wearing? No. Because you are blind. But the final reason that I know you are blind is because of my byakugan eye. It see's everything, and the way I know you are blind for the final and unquestionable reason is... your eye's. Your eyes don't have any optic nerves, it's not like they were damaged or anything by some sort of jutsu, or blinding light. They don't exsist at all, it's impossible to see without them. My guess is that you were born without them as some sort of birth defect, and managed to become as skilled as you are using your other four senses. Which I might add, is very impressive."

Zal was silent for a moment, he needed to collect his thoughts. When he had finally decided on what his reply would be he said "Well, I guess you figured me out indeed. Congratulations. Do you want me to tell you how great an achievment that you've done? Too bad, besides it really doesn't change anything. I'm not suddenly any weaker than I was five minutes ago. And..."

Zal was interupted by a voice coming from the woods. When he looked over he saw it was the Baboon. The Baboon said "True, it doesn't make you any weaker than before. But it does make it so that if you betray Konoha in any way, I will exploite your weakness without mercy. Although I am curious as to how you were able to kill that ninja before. When he used that jutsu to disrupt your hearing, you shouldn't have been able to even tell where he was coming from. But I don't suppose you're willing to tell me, are you?"

Zal snorted, then replied "Of course not. You think I'm foolish enough to let out two of my secrets in one day? Don't make me laugh. Now if you don't mind I have other things to attend to." With that said he walked off. Well that fight had not been quite what he had been expecting. He never expected them to figure out he was blind, off what little information they had. Not that most of his employers even thought about it. Why would they? The 9 licensed bounty hunters were famous. They never betrayed their employers, they always finished whatever job's they took. And their skills were so great that most people didn't even think they had a weakness. Of course they did, but that doesn't mean they let people find out about them. "Oh shit, I almost forgot I was going to see if Rukia would tell me how I could enroll Yuki-chan at the academy. I better see if she's up yet." He started to walk towards her house. As he walked he let the breeze calm his temper down. Normaly he didn't let anything get to him, he just never planned on anyone finding out that he was blind. Much less finding out so easily. It was pointless he decided. Shortly he arrived at Rukia's house, and knocked on the door. Luckily for him she was home.

"Oh! Hi Zal, what are you doing this early in the morning?" She asked.

Zal replied "Hello Rukia, I'm sorry to bother you, but I need your help. I need to enroll Yuki-chan in the ninja academy, but I don't know who to talk to. I was wondering if you could help me."

Rukia answered "I'd love to. Just give me a minute to get ready." Then she let him in her living room and went to go change. When she was done, she took him around town to the people he needed to talk to, to get her enrolled. And to the people he needed to talk to get her supplies for the academy. When they finally finished it was already noon. Rukia decided that maybe they should get some lunch together since she hadn't eaten yet, and she doubted that he had either. "Hey Zal, I was wondering if you would like to eat lunch with me. I know a place that serves great dango, and they have the best selection in all of konoha for their beverages."

Zal considered this and decided it must be a good idea, she was probably hungry. And he owed her for helping him get Yuki-chan's enrollment in order. "I would love to Rukia, but only on one condition. I pay for it. It's the least I can do since you helped me so much."

Rukia agreed but mainly because she considered today the closest thing to a date she was likely to get from him any time soon.

Meanwhile at the Hokages tower, the third got a message from record keeping, requesting his presence immediatly. When he got down to the bottom of the tower, he found the man who had made the request. "So what is this about? You said that it would be some information I would find very interesting." The third asked. The reply he got was very interesting indeed.

"Yes Hokage-sama, the imformation I have found is regarding Zal Ukriz. It seems that he is indeed one of the 9 bounty hunters that are licensed in the world. There is a tournement so to speak, that is held every ten years. In this tournement several hundred unlicensed bounty hunters compete for a license. There is only nine that are able to make it, and they will fight the current ones who hold the licenses. If one of them wins, he takes the place of the old one. These people also may not be missing-nin, they have many trials that they must accomplish first in order to even enter the tourny. They must prove they are trustworthy, and that they never break a contract. They never do double missions, where they pretend to be under the employ of one guy while they are really under the employ of another. If they ever betray an employer even once, they are banned from the tourny... forever. Those who make it and become one of the nine, are able to get a job anywhere in the four countries. But the fact that you would find most interesting I think is that Zal, entered the last tourny. And became one of the nine, but the last tourny was ten years ago. The next tourny is in a few months. Didn't you say that Zal is only 19 years old? If that is so than he beat over fifty other hunters when he was only nine years old. That has to be a record of some sort. All I know is this, with the chance of a great war coming up as it seems to be. I would rather have him on our side, than against us."

The third thought over this carefully. Then he said "Well I have heard of this tournement before, and the current Hokage is expected to attend so as to see the skills of those they might employ. I would like it if you could send up the date for the next tourny up to my office as soon as you find out. This tourny sounds like something I would regret missing." With that the Hokage walked up back to his office. Zal was interesting to be sure. Somewhat of a puzzle, which was fine. Not many people knew this, but Sarutobi likes puzzles. Now that he thought about it, it was time for lunch. He decided to go all out and ordered his favorite food. Dried black seaweed imported from the the water country, and sardines on the side. And to top it all off, he jad a special bottle of sake that he had just been waiting for an excuse to open. And now was as good a time as any.

**AN: Read and Review! Yo sorry it took so long, and wassnt a very long chapter. I'm gettin less and less time to work on it, due to work and all. I've set up a list which I'm going to have at the end of each chapter that has jutsu's in it. This list should help you understand some of the jutsu's that arn't known widely, or that I just made up. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I had some problems with this chapter based on only working on it here and there. Timeskip soon, till after the academy. What did you think about finding out Zal was blind? Was it a suprise? Or not really? Let me know. I hate being predictable. Here is my list.**

**Jutsu/tecnique descriptions**

**Fire Style: Blazing Kunei of the Inferno Jutsu**  
This nin-jutsu takes low level chunnin chakra control, and high level genin chakra reserves. With this jutsu the user infuses his/her chakra into the kunei temporarily giving it the traits of fire. This tecnique is usefull for catching someone's clothing on fire as a distraction, while the user gets in close enough for a killing blow.

**Fire Style: Phoenix Form Jutsu**  
This nin-jutsu takes Anbu level chakra control, and high level junnin chakra reserves. With this jutsu the user surrounds his/her body with chakra, then combusts it causeing them to be surrounded by flames. This jutsu requires Anbu level chakra control because if done improperly the user can burn their clothing or even themselves. This jutsu requires Jounin level chakra reserves because untill he/she cancles the jutsu it causes a steady drain of chakra.

**Water Style: Condensed water bomb Jutsu**  
This nin-jutsu is chunnin level. This jutsu takes water from the air and condenses it, putting about 1 gallon of water in the area of 1 oz. The larger the final result, the more water pressure will hit and oppenent in one blast.

**Fire Style: Fire tempest of Fury Jutsu**  
This nin-jutsu require high gennin level chakra control, and high chunnin chakra reserves. This jutsu sends a mini-tornado of fire towards one's oppenents, a flashy jutsu but requires more chakra than is desired, this jutsu is not used often because of the high chakra requirement.

**Secret Technique: Forced Rebirth**  
This nin-jutsu requires Anbu level chakra control, and Kage level chakra reserves. This jutsu allows the user to de-age another person back to the point of their birth. When used the target will be transported back to the place of their birth. This jutsu is forbidden due to the fact that the user will lose one of their five senses: Their sense of sight, of touch, of hearing, of smell, or of taste. The sense they lose is random and cannot be chosen. To a ninja losing any of these senses could prove devastating. The target of this jutsu has a choice, to lose their memory, or to use all their power to preserve it. If they choose to preserve their memory, then they will again only have the power they had when they were first born.

**Art of Deception: Lost in my mind**  
This gen-jutsu is jounin level. This jutsu transports the user and his/her targets to an area created from the users imagination or memories. Wounds inflicted here will reduce preformance of their phisical body. This jutsu is used to fight between combatants without injuring bystanders. This jutsu is preformed by a seal.

**Shadow Arts: The reapers servant**  
This nin-jutsu is Anbu level. This jutsu creates a spectre of living shadow to fight the user's enemies. This spectre is immortal and will last untill the user runs out of chakra or releases it. The spectre can move as fast as the mind of the user can think of an attack.

**Shadow Arts: Swarm of the Shadow crows jutsu**  
This gen-jutsu is jounin level. This jutsu cause the shadows to materialize into crows that fly and surround the target. When the target is surrounded the fuse together to the point that the target is in pitch black darkness, no light can get through untill this jutsu is released.

**The Gemini Assault**  
This fighting style is jounin level. This fighting style requires two person to work in perfect harmony. The goal of person number one is to keep their oppenent off guard while person number two takes advantage of any opening that their oppenent is forced to leave. This fighting style is weak against anyone who relies on speed, due to the fact he can block any attacks they throw at him.

**Lightning Style: Odin's Blessing jutsu**  
This nin-jutsu requires mid chunnin level chakra control, and low jounin level chakra reserves. this jutsu imbues lightning chakra into the weapon that the users decides, and also uses chakra to increase the speed of the user by infusing his/her muscles with massive amounts of chakra in a short period of time. This jutsu is not good for long battles as it puts a tremendous strain on the body.

**Lightning Style: Blinding Agony jutsu**  
This nin-jutsu requires high jounin level chakra control, and chunnin level chakra reserves. This jutsu sends out a flash that can blind anyone in the area that looks at it. This jutsu also sends lightning along the optic nerves of the target into the brain giving the target a massive headach or killing them outright. This jutsu is not good to use when near allies if you do not warn them in advance, as you may blind them.


	6. The Demon Within

**Chapter 6**

**The Demon Within  
**

Yuki woke up at around 8:00 am. She doesn't normally wake up as early as Zal due to the fact she's just a little kid. After she got done with the morning routine, brushing her teeth and all the other hygiene things that you do in the morning. She had a secret which even Zal didn't know, she had a tendency to squeeze lemon juice into her toothpaste. She didn't tell Zal because she knew he'd just look at her funny, and then laugh before forgetting about it. It was her little secret, and frankly she liked the flavor. She didn't think of it this way, but anyone who knew her really well that had a outside view of her life, would know that she had, had to mature much faster than a average kid her age. In her life her mother, and the rest of her clan had been wiped out when she was only two years old. Not only that but she had to take care of Zal, there were alot of things that he couldn't do because he was blind. He couldn't read anymore because of it, if he tried to write it was completely by feel, and looked worse than her handwriting. What only Yuki knew was that Zal used his hearing to see so to speak. Sort a of echo location was the closest thing you could describe it by. But with this he could only see basic shapes, and small objects he couldn't see at all. The way he could fight in combat, and so on was that he did a similar thing with his chakra. He constantly emitted waves of chakra, and interpreted what things actually looked like because of it. The problem with this is that it drains chakra at a steady rate. And while Zal's chakra reserves are at least three times the size as your average Jounin, When Zal fought with Iku he drained his reserves down to almost nothing. And now that he had to use his chakra to see, it made it very difficult for him to regain his chakra back at all. Much less to full strength.Yuki knew so many things about him that if she took some time to think about it, she probably knew him better than she knew herself. When she got done with all her morning activities, she decided to see if Akira was busy. She might have had no choice but to mature early in many ways of life, but at heart she was still a little kid, who wanted nothing more than a friend. She found Akira at the local playground, swinging on one of the swings. "Hi Akira, what'cha doin'?"

Akira looked at her and his face lit up, "Hi Yuki-chan, I'm not doing anything right now. Why? Do you have a game we can play?"

Yuki tried to think of a game, then she remembered one that some of the older kids used to play back when they lived with the clan. She had been to young at the time, but now she was almost five! She thought over the rules in her head before replying, "Yea! I jus' remembered a game they used to play back home, it was called **Avatar Tag**." She took Akira over to the sandbox to show him how to play. He watched as she drew a seal into the sand, "Akira, you need to draw a seal just like this ok? I'll help you. See, now you got it. Now you just gotta channel some chakra into your palm and repeat after me, **Creation Seal activate: Sand golem jutsu**" Then she slammed her palm into the seal.

He watched in awe, as a golem made of sand rose from the ground. It was about 8 inchs tall. It was poorly made and every time it moved, it had to absorb more sand because it kept falling apart as it moved. To anyone who had made one before it was definatly poorly made. But to Akira it was the coolest thing in the world. "Wow! Thats awesome, how do I do that? You said to channel chakra... um, whats chakra?" Remember, Akira is only five years old. At that age most kids don't even know how ninja's do Jutsu's and stuff like that. Most kids don't learn about stuff like that till they enter the academy.

But to Yuki who had learned it at a very young age, assumed all kids learned at the same age. When she realized he actually didn't know she explained to him what chakra was, that is what chakra was from a little kids point of view. When she was done he nodded his head like he had just heard the greatest thing since the wheel. After a couple hours of her teaching him how to mold chakra he was able to put some chakra into the seal. To both of them it was just another game that they were learning to play, but if an adult had seen this they would have been astounded. In only a couple hours Akira had learned what takes most people months, sometimes even years to learn. He was setting up right now the reason he would later be called a genius. His learning capacity was amazing, and yet neither of the two kids thought twice about it. All they cared about was that they could play this cool game as soon as he mastered this. The advantage to using a seal, was that it handled the forming of the golem, and maintained it. All you had to do was keep chakra flowing into it. Now the better you did at the seal, the better the result. Being kids the seals looked good, but of course a trained ninja would have seen at least ten flaws in her seal, not to mention his. But put all that aside, because Akira just mastered how to form, and move his golem.

"Ok, Akira. Now that you can control your golem, the game we are about to play is kinda like tag. The better control you have over your golem, the faster you can make it run. And the less effort you have to put into constantly rebuilding him. Ok the rules are, you can't have him leave the sandbox. Obviously he would disintegrate. And no interaction between us and them, in other words don't have your golem throw sand at me, and I won't have mine throw any at you. Other than that its just normal tag."

For the rest of the day they laughed and giggled as the golems chased eachother around the sandbox, as the golems tackled eachother. And and threw clods of sand at eachother. Each of them figured out little tricks to give their golems a burst of speed, or how to use the sand around them to fling them towards the other one. By the end of the day they were both exhausted, from using so much chakra. It wasn't that the game itself took that much chakra, it was that they had been playing all day. He walked her home that evening, as they talked about the game. There were many variations that you could use besides golems. Golems were just the most simple and easy to use. She explained to him how the older kids could do so many kool things with them, but when you tried, it was alot harder than it looked. He nodded his head to many of the things she said, as he thought about it. The seal did the real molding of the chakra, you just had to give a constant flow. You could alter the seal slightly, and come up with a completely different creation than golems. But if you altered the seal too much in one way, it would stop working all together.

When they were almost their Yuki asked Akira a question "Akira, um... I was wondering... would you be my friend?"

Akira looked at her and gave her a beaming smile "Of course silly, do you think I'd spend all day with a person that I didn't want to be my friend?" He smiled, as they walked home. Yuki was smiling too, she finally had a friend.

When they got there, just before Yuki went inside, she said "Akira, my birthday is in a few weeks. And I was wondering if you would like to come over. You can meet my dad, and maybe we can convince him to teach you a few more cool seals." She looked at him hopefully. She finally had a friend, and she wanted her dad to meet him.

He looked positively horrified. "Your dad? Is he as scary as your brother?" She laughed at him before replying "No, my brother looks scary to alot of people, but my dad looks normal." He looked relieved, when her "Brother" came over that one time when she had passed out. He had almost pissed himself, he looked ready to kill. So when she said that he replied "Sure, I'd love to come to your house. Just let me know when and I'll be there." With that he walked off to his house.

Yuki went inside feeling bubbly inside, she couldn't wait to tell daddy. As she went upstairs to his room, she heard him in the shower. "Oh! I know, I'll hide and suprise him when he gets out." So she went and hid under his bed. When she heard the shower turn off, she masked her chakra and waited silently. He came out and flopped down on his bed staring at the ceiling. She silently crawled out from under the bed and then scurried ontop of his chest. She expected him to maybe jolt a little, or just smile and tell her that he never saw her coming, in a way that told her he had seen her the instant she came in the room. What she didn't expect was for him to stiffen, then slowly look towards her. When his gaze came about to her level he relaxed like he had been expecting to see a ghost. She felt concerned, he hadn't acted like this in a long time. "Daddy? Whats wrong?"

He gave her a weak smile before replying "Nothing Yuki-chan, it's just for a moment it seemed like I was reliving the past." Then he grabbed her in a bear hug, crushing her to his chest like he was never gonna let go. For her it was the best, most safest place in the world. A place where the only thing that mattered was the present. For him she was his lifeline to the few remaining scraps of sanity he had left. It was like the past had crept up on him from where he had buried it so long ago. The past... a time when Maemi was still alive. Sometimes he wondered if he would stay sane long enough to raise Yuki to an adult. Then when she got married another man could take care of her, and he would let the visions overcome him. Then he could give in to the rage and grief that he had been forced to bottle up since her death, without worrying about Yuki being able to survive without him. Then for once, he wouldn't feel like it was tearing him up inside, but instead tear up everything outside around him. Maybe after he killed Iku once and for all, he could find a way to die. Becoming one of the Fel Guards didn't matter as much as it once had.

People thought he couldn't be any older than 20... Yeah. People thought that horses couldn't fly either, but Iku had proved to him that some could. But then again people always judge a book by its cover despite how many times that book is really a horror story not a fairy tale. People don't change no matter how much time passes. "The demon inside me, wants revenge for my Maemi. But I can't let him out yet. Too many things need to be done, so he must sleep for now. But the demon that sleeps inside Yuki-chan will awaken when she turns five, and I will teach her how to use it's power without becoming controlled by it. After all, who better to teach someone how to control demon power, than someone who already has to." He thought over these things to himself as he heard her steady breathing, she had fallen asleep again. "Man, I wonder how many nights since we've lived here has she slept in her own bed? How many more nights will it be before she sleeps in it again?" He chuckled softly to himself. When it came to Yuki, he just couldn't bring himself to wake her up. "I suppose another night won't hurt, I just have to make sure she starts getting used to sleeping on her own." He was reluctant to go to sleep. When he slept he dreamed of Maemi, which was paradise. The problem was the pain of waking up to a world without her, was almost too much to bear sometimes. He wasn't sure it was worth the sleep, just for the pain he knew he'd feel when he woke up. And yet every time he debated about not going to sleep, he couldn't resist seeing her again, if only for a few hours. So once again he lost the fight and slipped into the blissful dreams of his lost beloved.

_ Flashback Zal POV_

_ I have been seeing her for almost six months now. Every time I get done with a mission, I go straight to her house, before I even take a shower. Thats how much I want to see her. Every waking moment that I'm not off on a mission I spend with her. I don't even take the time to train anymore. My brother Iku is poking fun at me saying that he will become stronger than me if I keep slacking off. I just laugh at him and say that I don't mind. Maybe if he does become stronger than me he will stop bugging me. He usually stops poking fun at me for the moment. Not that I believe that he will ever become stronger than me. He may be a genius, but sometimes raw power just can't be beaten by thinking. Sometimes the only way to fight raw power is with more raw power. _

_ In our clan once a demon and it's human host merge, they stop calling themselves human. Usually they call themselves whatever demon they were called when it was only a demon. Not that the demon has more influence than the human. They are completely fused therefore they are one and the same. It's just a __preference__ due to the fact that humans don't usually care what they are called, whereas demons despise being called human. Such is the same with the woman I have grown so attached to, Maemi was the name of the two tailed fox. The human parents of the child that became the host named her the same name so as not to cause confusion after they fused. Outsiders often wonder how our clan is so strong. There are two answers: The answer that we tell them, and the answer that we keep a secret. Both of them are true. The answer we tell them is our bloodline limit. When one of us goes into combat he has the chakra of the whole clan behind him. That makes him literally a chakra powerhouse. He could use the most powerful jutsu's he knows all day long, but the clan as a whole would barely feel it. The other reason that our clan is so powerful is the demons inside them._

_ But it is also our greatest weakness. Demons are sealed into all the children of our clan as soon as they are born. Because of this throughout the generations our clan has thrived and become one, if not the most powerful clan in __existence__. But therein lies our downfall. Demons are not as plentiful as mere animals. And because of the constant sealing of demons within our young our DNA has grown a need for demon chakra. It has become so that, if a child does not have a demon sealed within it, by 24 hours of it's birth... **It will die.**_

_ This poses problems as there are only four ways to seal a demon within a human child. One: Is if you have a contract with that demon and it allows itself to be sealed. The reasons for which I will explain later. A simple seal is required to seal a demon that has consented._

_ Two: The second method is required if a demon refuses to be sealed. This method is only used in emergency. The summoning of the Shikigami. Though the sacrifice of a soul, the Shikigami is willing to seal a demon against it's will inside a youngling. A complex seal must be prepared ahead of time for this to work, or the demon will simply take control of the young host, before bursting from it's body leaving it lifeless and defeating the purpose of the sealing in the first place._

_ The third method does not require the summoning of the Shikigami, but does require the use of massive chakra. In other words multiple people must work together with an artifact that our clan has locked away deep in the clan vault. Only the clan head is able to open the vault. Which would be me, I didn't even make up that rule. The councle did, just to make me a more active part of the clan as they put it. In actuality, its to shift more work to me so they can be more lazy. But I won't complain, normally people in our clan only do demons that we have a contract with. And we keep a limit on how many children someone is allowed to have, so as to not run out of demons to keep our children from dieing._

_ The fourth method is known only to me and father. Even Iku doesn't know this seal. It is a secret that is forbidden because if it was revealed to the wrong people, it would be possible to seal even the legendary nine tailed beasts. A feat that without the use of the shikigami would be extremely difficult. For the third method, the more powerful the demon, the more people are required to preform the sealing._

_ On another topic, I guess you could say the demon side of me had two children before I met Maemi, of course I don't think of myself as "The Demon side" or "The Human Side" I'm just me. No more, no less. My daughter said that the first daughter I have with whatever human wife I might take, she agree's to be sealed inside. My son said the same thing, but says that only a son. He will never be sealed inside a grandchild, a nephew, or anyone else but a direct son of mine. Onaga is so stubborn sometimes but I'm fine with it. I can't imagine asking him to be sealed inside a human who wasn't my son anyways._

_ Of course while all this is interesting stuff I can't even keep my mind on it. Maemi seems to be the only thought thats stays in my head for longer than 30 seconds anyways. I finally reached her house. Funny, the one girl in the entire clan that I want to see, lives on exactly the other side of our so called village. __Literally__, I even checked the blueprints once (Out of random bordness more than anything else) and discovered that the village was designed in a way that made her house the farthest house from mine in the entire village._

_ Again I should explain something. When I say village, I mean just that village. You don't have a clan as powerful as ours that lives in a ninja village, no we created our own. We are not, nor will we ever be close in size compared to one of the four great villages. Actually we are smaller than most villages around. But we are self sufficient in almost everything. The only thing that we get regulary from the outside is money. And that we get from jobs for the nearby villages._

_Again my mind wanders back to Maemi. Which is lucky seeing as she jumped on me when I rounded the corner. "Zal, were you thinking of me the whole time you were gone?"_

_I looked at her and gave her a shining smile "No of course not, I know that you want me to concentrate on whatever I'm working on at the moment." Seeing as she looked relieved I decided to go just one step further just because I'm that kind of guy. "After all, I managed to think of something besides you for probably three whole minutes since I last saw you yesterday." I could tell she was flattered, of course that didn't stop her from smacking me upside the head._

_"Dobe! If you don't keep your head out of the clouds your going to end up getting beatin' by some guy who is weaker than your average kid." She laughed as she said this, completely throwing off any chance of it sounding serious._

_I replied "Ok, now this is scary. Your starting to sound like Iku, and if I can imagine the most scary woman possible, it would be him in henge." I cringed when I said it for added effect._

_Of course she laughed, and then said "You do know that you two look alot alike right? and you would make the cutest girl anyways." Now isn't that what every guy is just dieing to hear. "You would make the cutest girl" Hello? Are you trying to kill my manlieness? Guys don't want to hear that they would make a cute girl. They want to hear how strong they look. And how handsome they are. Not cute, anything but cute. Hell, some guys would prefer to be called butt ugly than cute. Not that I've ever been called that before. The girls never even thought anything close to that, and none of the guys I've met had a big enough death wish to do it._

_Of course while I'm thinking all this stuff, she's poking me in the arm. I notice her doing it a raise an eyebrow. She says "You know you promised to take me on a date to the mountains today. I would prefer to get over and back before it gets dark out."_

_I grinned and then said "Why? Whats wrong with the dark? Are you saying you wouldn't want to be caught out in the dark with me?" She blushed and said that, that wasn't it. Then mumbled something about how it gets cold after dark. My grin got even bigger then I said "Thats ok, I think I can keep us both warm." Then I pinched her __suggestively__. She jumped and blushed. Funny, that first night that we spent together she hadn't seemed very shy. Of course when I found out that her friends had given her a healthy dose of sake that day, for just that purpose. Well, I guess I couldn't be mad at them. But I made sure they didn't decide to pull anything in the future. Funny how talking to someone in your full demon form makes them listen very closely. Back on topic, I discovered that Maemi was actually pretty shy. She passed out three times after she woke up that next day, and realized what we had done the night before. Since then we've only had "Make out" sessions, and haven't gone any further than that. But sometimes I like to tease her. I never realized just how cute she is when she blushes. Now I know why all the other boys in town go wild around her (and not just the single boys either.) And one of the best things is, when she starts to get really shy, she mumbles. I love it! And thats actually what she's doing right now, mumbling. I listen to her mumble (It's so cute). As soon as she's done I lean in close and whisper to her "I didn't hear a word you said, you were mumbling again." She blushes again, she is trying to stop mumbling around me. Even though I think it's the cutest thing in the world, she despises it. So I after I told her that I could get us a ride up to the mountain she goes inside to get us a few snacks for while we're up there. I do a special summoning Jutsu and Onaga appears._

_"Hello father, How may I assist you?" He looked at me lazily. He was very large for his age. Being only a few hundred years old (Which for a demon isn't that long) he was already easily the length of five horses. I can't say that there is any other demon that has relations with our clan that was his size by his age._

_I reply to him "Hello son, Maemi and I would like to go for a trip to the mountains. I was hoping you could give us a ride." _

_He looks back at me with a bored __expression __ on his face "As long as I don't have to stay up there with you guys the whole time. You two getting mushy in front of me, is more than I can handle." He makes a raspy sound that is similar to the sound he would make if he was about to vomit up his lunch._

_I smile at him "But it would be such good experience for you. That way in the future when you fall in love with some lovely young lady you already know all the right moves."_

_He snorted in __exasperation __ "Pleeeaaasssee. You've only been with her for six months. And before that you only had an arranged marriage with mother. I probably know more about girls than you do."_

_At That I cocked an eyebrow "Ok. Two things, One: I was only joking. Two: How would you know more about girls than me? Six months might not be alot, but it's better than none... Wait!? You don't have a girlfriend do you?"_

_He rumbled, in his way for laughter "No, I don't. But the difference between you and me. Is I didn't just start seeing girls as something besides the opposite gender only six months ago. I have regular friends that are girls, and I've know them for years. So my guess is I probably know more about them than you do."_

_I had to __concede__ defeat there. But I realized that we had gotten off topic. "Onaga, the reason I summoned you here was to ask you give us a lift up the mountain. And no, you don't have to stay with us. As I said before, I was only joking." He nodded to show he would give us a lift at about the same time Maemi came out of the house. We both jumped onto his back, and off we went. I leaned forwards and whispered into his ear "Oh, and Onaga. Don't come back for us till about 1:00am. We should be ready for you by then. He just nodded and kept going. As far as he was concerned, the less time he had to spend around us "Mushy" people the better. He dropped us off on top of my favorite mountain, Chesirji Peak. _

_After he left I took her to my favorite spot. Not quite at the top there was a waterfall that poured into a miniature _reservoir_. We sat down for a while then I suggested we go swimming. She pointed out that neither of us had brought swimmsuits. I smiled _evilly_, then grabbed her and jumped in, clothes and all. When we got back to the surface she tried to smack me. But _unfortunately_ for her, she wasn't a good swimmer, and almost went under again. I hauled her up and cradled her in my arms as we floated for awhile peacefully. She relaxed and actually started to fall asleep. Well I couldn't very well let my date fall asleep when there was so many better things to do. So I gave her a really big kiss. Then I stroked behind her ears (She loves it when I do that), and waited for her reaction. There was none... that is no wait. She kissed me back __immediately__, and made me lose my ummm... floating balance? Well we went under water again. Well she might not be a good swimmer, and I am. But theres a very good reason that I am. I hate going underwater. It's one thing like when you jump in, but you resurface right away. This was different than that. This was "Me freak out and get back to surface as quickly as is physically possible" type of thing. Of course I took her with me, there was no way I was cutting this session off. Just postponing it till we got to slightly shallower water. Well normally you'd think me spluttering and thrashing around would kill the mood. But the amazing thing about her fox tails is, that they can be used both ways. In other words, I can jumpstart her mood by teasing her tails. I swear every guy on the planet who doesn't have a girlfriend with furry tails is missing out bigtime._

_Once we were done with our "Water games" we went on shore to dry off. What she didn't realize was that I did in fact plan for us to go swimming. And I didn't bring spare clothes for the same reason that I only brought one towel. The funny thing is she was so distressed about not having a spare change of clothes that she didn't even think about that fact I might have planned the whole thing. Of course being the gentleman I am, I'm not about to take the towel for myself while she has nothing. Of course not... I offer to share the towel with her. We can keep warm at the same time. Oooohh, I'm so evil I know. And I don't regret a moment of it. Why should I? I have the cutest girl in the world snuggling up to me, and the only thing she's wearing is a towel. Which just so happens to only cover her from the __environment__, but not from me in the slightest. Should I be guilty? Maybe. Am I? HELL NO! And from the way her tails are curling around my legs, I don't think she is hating me for it either. About 15 minutes before Onaga is supposed to arrive I use a simple fire jutsu to dry our clothes. She didn't even mention that I could have done that before. Man this girl is perfect! As a matter of fact, she didn't move to even put on her clothes till about five minutes before he was supposed to be here. I'm not completely certain of it, I think I need to __reference__ it to some guide that's written somewhere or something, just to be sure. But I'm 99.999999999 sure I'm in love._

_End Flashback_

I woke up the next morning, and turned towards the other person on my bed, half expecting it to be Maemi. Of course it was only Yuki, fast asleep. Everything comes back to me in a rush. She's gone. The woman who meant more to me than the air I breathe, is gone from my life. Again another day I must face without her. Again another day I must cling to my sanity for Yuki's sake. She will revive our clan, this I know. And I know she can do it, but I must do my part. And my part is to raise her till she's old enough to take care of herself. The tournament is coming up soon. I need to regain my chakra back to full, if I want to be able to survive. Much less keep my title. Of us nine hunters I have the rank of the eight tailed beast. Only one hunter is a higher rank than me. Does that mean he is stronger than me? Not really. It means he's had more fights in the arena than me. But that's because I don't really care enough to take him on. He may be stronger than me, but unless I fight him neither of us will ever know. And I have no intention of fighting him, especially when I haven't regained all my chakra. The only way 'll be able to gain enough of my chakra back to be able to win in the tourny, is to kill possibly 50 or more strong ninja's. The stronger the person I kill, the more chakra I will regain from him. Today I will visit the Hokage's tower, and request a few missions which should give me the amount of kills I need. Rukia... a nice girl no doubt. But I won't ever be able to see her as she wants me to. There is only room in my heart for one woman. And that woman took my heart with her to the grave. I can still love my children, but even then, it's not the same as it used to be.

My life only has two meanings in it now. One is to raise Yuki and make sure she is able to take care of herself. And the only other meaning in my life is to kill Iku. Those are the only two reasons that I live from day to day. Everything else is simply to assist in those two goals. I get up and go through the daily routine, later I find myself perched on top of the hokage tower, listening to the wind speak to me. Ever since I became blind I've been forced to hone my other senses to an extreme. Now it's as if the wind brings me visions of things that happened in another land. With the wind I can see the leaves that are simply shapes to me normally. With the wind I see nature at it's most beautiful. But thats not all the wind brings me. It brings me visions... of my prey. I am a predator by nature, I relish in the hunt. And the kill. But most of all, I love the rush of combat. For when I am in combat, I forget the things I've lost, the people I might never see again. In combat the only things that exist are you and your opponent. Everything else is simply an object. Whether it's a object that is keeping you from killing him, or him from killing you. Thats all there is.

I can hear people opening their shops below, as they prepare for a new day. So many people, who don't see the big picture. To them it's just another day another dollar. Most of them don't even have plans for more than 20 years in the future. Back before revenge consumed my life, I had plans for the next 60 years, and then some. I jumped off the tower and enjoyed the short freefall, not that most people would have called it short. But I've had alot of higher freefalls than that. When I landed on the ground, I walked inside. The secretary listed off (at my request) missions that I could take. I had her put me down for the ones which had the most targets, so as to be able to fill my "Quota". For the next few weeks I'll only be home off and on, so as to get the missions done as fast as possible. I'll be home today, and then for a few days for Yuki-chans birthday.

But I need to prepare for the tourny. Today will be spent in preparation of my first mission. I need to kill each person on my mission as quickly and efficiently as possible. The less chakra I use the better. I need to gain alot more than I lose. On my way back home I feel chakra from a seal which wasn't disposed of. I go over and take a look. Two seals were written in the sand of a sandbox. Crude, like the handiwork of someone who isn't familiar with making seals. Or of someone who is, and is very young. Yuki possibly. I know these seals and while they aren't really dangerous, they are the basic seals, for some which can be deadly. I'm about to erase them when I hear a voice speak up.

"You know that was simply amazing. Two kids using a seal like that. Obviously they weren't very large, but if those two kids were able to create something like that, that was about ten feet tall. Then those two five year olds would be able to beat even high ranked genin" A white skinned man stepped out from the shadows. He had long black hair, and yellow eyes that had slits for pupils. Of course I couldn't tell that. All I noticed was this guy had somehow managed to sneak up on me without me noticing. That irritated me.

So I decided to find out just who the hell this guy was. "And who are you exactly? Spying on two little kids sounds alot like stalker behavior." I folded my arms and waited for his reply. He didn't take very long.

"My name is Orochimaru. I'm a ninja here at Konohagakure. I suppose you must be the hunter that recently came here to Konoha. I assume you must know all sorts of fascinating jutsu's. I myself am sort of a collector of jutsu's. My goal is to learn all the jutsu's in the world. And I assure you I am no stalker. I was merely out for a walk yesterday, and I happened across those two playing a game of tag using these seals. I myself am working on creating a few seals, perhaps you would like to take a look at them sometime, yes?"

Now for some reason I didn't like this guy. But at the mention of new seals I started to pay closer attention. You see I have sort of an addiction to learning about seals. Even useless ones, if it's a seal I don't know, then I just have to learn it. So I replied "Hmmm, well I do know a thing or two about seals. I guess I will take a look sometime, if for no other reason than to see what they do." With that said I walked off, seal or no seal's that guy seemed a little... different. I stopped in mid-thought before I realized what had just crossed my mind. A little different? Who was I kidding? I was being a hypocrite. I was barely what you could call human, and I was judging someone else because he seemed not normal? I guess even I'm not above typical stereotypes.

Once I got home I began preparations for my upcoming missions. Sealing weapons inside scrolls, making sure my body armor was properly maintained. Making sure none of my scrolls had water damage. And a million other little things that are so ingrained in me I don't even notice doing them. This will be hard on Yuki-chan, I won't be home very much for the next few weeks. But I've been away for long periods of time before. She should be ok, a little lonely, but ok. Besides she seems to have made a friend, that blond kid. I don't remember his name. But if she has someone to pass the time with, and to show her Konoha then she should be fine.

I finish my preparation's and put on all my gear. This first mission should only take a day or two. I need to kill a group of bandits, that seems to be one of the groups that used to get weapons from Otanko Kunrie. A fairly large group but supposedly not very skilled. They rely on their numbers to frighten most people into submission. Due to their large numbers this mission was supposed to be an A class mission. I guess theres alot of them to rank that high. Just more meat for the grinder.

End POV

The next few weeks passed by quickly. Zal would go on a mission, then after he completed it he would come home for a day or two. Then he would leave on his next mission. But time didn't seem to pass as slow when he was gone as it usually did for Yuki. Because she had a friend to spend time with, instead of being by herself. Yuki's birthday was coming up today. Akira and his parents were coming over to celebrate with Yuki and Zal. Akira was happy, he was finally going to meet Yuki's dad. She told him so many cool things about him, that he couldn't wait to meet him. So you can imagine his shock when her "Dad" opened the door and he saw the man who had scared the shit out of him that night almost a month ago. Then Yuki poked her head out the door and beamed a smile at Akira.

"Hi Akira! This is my dad Zal Ukriz. Daddy this is Akira Tsikyn. And this is his mom and dad." Akira's father walked with a cane, due to an injury in his right leg. And Akira's mother looked pale and kind of sickly, but she also looked like a very kind person. Both of them had the same bright blond hair, and deep blue eyes. They went inside and had a dinner that Rukia had cooker up for them. As they ate they just made smalle talk untill Yuki brought something to Zal's attention. "Hey daddy, I was wondering if after dinner you could teach Akira and me a new jutsu or seal, as a birthday bresent to me."

Zal looked at her with a curious expression on his face. "Akira knows how to do jutsu's or seals?" Zal knew this was unusual due to the fact most kids didn't learn until they were older.

Yuki nodded her head "He didn't know how before, but I taught him how. He learned faster than I did. It only took him a few hours to learn how to mold enough chakra to do the Creation Seal: Sand golem jutsu."

Zal was astounded, in only a few hours he'd learned to mold chakra, when he hadn't ever even used it before. He looked at Akira with a new respect. This kid was a genius whether he knew it or not. "Alright, I will teach you both something very useful. As a matter of fact it's something I use every time I fight." When they finished their dinner he took them outside to the training grounds. "The first thing I am about to teach you is not actually a jutsu. What I'm about to teach you is how to use chakra to enhance your muscles. This will increase you speed, and strength. The more chakra you use, the faster and stronger you will become, temporarily. But don't use too much or you'll end up injuring your body from to much strain." They watched as he focused his chakra into his legs, then jumped off the ground straight up in the air. Akira and Yuki both watched in awe as he went almost 60 feet off the ground. The he started to descend. When he finally reached the ground he made an impact that left a crater that was ten feet deep. Then he leapt out of the hole. "Now Yuki tell me what I just did from a ninja's point of view."

Yuki nodded her head and replied "You focused massive amounts of chakra into your legs before jumping into the air. Then before you made impact you focused even more chakra into the rest of your body before making impact with the ground."

Zal patted her head and replied "Yes thats exactly what I did. Good job Yuki-chan. Now Akira can you tell me why I focused chakra throughout my whole body for the impact instead of just the parts which were going to make impact?"

Akira thought for a second before answering "Because you didn't know which part of you would make contact?"

Zal smiled before shaking his head "Actually the reason is that when you make contact with the ground, your whole body receives impact trauma. Reinforcing your whole body is the only way to keep yourself from being injured. Now that you understand this, I will teach you Akira, a very powerful jutsu. Yuki-chan I have something else for you after we get home. Ok Akira, this jutsu is called the body flicker. It uses the same concept as before, using chakra to increase your speed. But the difference is that you focus only a short, powerful burst of chakra throughout your entire body. This allows you to move at speeds which can't be followed by the human eye. This Jutsu doesn't actually take up that much chakra, but it can't be performed without perfect chakra control. It will take you years to master this technique. It's an S class Jutsu based on its difficulty, but also because of the rewards. I normally don't use this jutsu because, I prefer to just go in and bash my oppenents with brute force. The other reason this jutsu isn't widely used, is that it doesn't use any hand seals. You have to do all the hand seals inside your head. Plus you have to concentrate on your destination. Watch carefully. These are the hand seals that you will need to do in your head."

Zal did almost 50 hand seals slowly so Akira would notice each one. Then Zal did them properly in his head and focused on his destination. The next thing Akira and Yuki saw was a flash of red, and then he seemed to have teliported all the way across the field, in the blink of an eye. Zal waved to them from the distance, then flickered and reapeared behind them. "That is a jutsu that will be extremely useful to you Akira if you ever master it. Some men have spent their entire lives without being able to do so. But I have faith in you, because I know Yuki has faith in you."

Akira beamed at the praise and silently promised himself to live up to their expectations. The rest of the afternoon Zal spent teaching Akira little tricks which would make the jutsu easier to use. After they parted and went home Zal was getting mentally prepared to introduce his two daughters to eachother. "This will be a very interesting night."

When they got home Zal took Yuki down to the basement, to begin the procedure. "Ok Yuki, there is someone I'd like you to meet." He went through a set of hand seals and gently pressed two of his fingers to her forehead. What she saw was a blinding white light then she stood in a room that had all her old toys, that she had back when they lived with their clan. Zal stood next to her. "Yuki-chan you can come in now." Yuki turned to tell him she was already their when she heard movement from behind a door. The door opened to reveal a demon that looked alot like Onaga, though nowhere near as big. This one was also blue and had a eye in the middle of her forehead. Zal spoke again "Yuki-chan meet Yuki my first daughter. She is the demon that is sealed inside you. As you grow older you will be able to access her chakra more and more. Eventually you will fuse together and be able to do things that right now you can't even imagine. For now this is all I will tell you, as it will take some time to comprehend it all." Zal hugged both of his daughters before releasing the jutsu.

When they got back to the real world Yuki was stunned. She knew Onaga was a demon, but she never thought that she had one inside her. It wasn't that it was difficult to imagine, it was that it had just never occurred to her. That night when she went to bed, she kept seeing the other Yuki. But the image that followed her into her sleep, wasn't of the other Yuki so much, as just a part of her. The part that she saw even as she dreamed, was the third eye that her inner demon had. It didn't seem to see the same things that the other two normal eyes saw. It was like it could see things that other people couldn't see. Things like the future.

**AN: Muhahahah! I got this one done way before i thought i would. Helps that i had 2 days off to work on it. i stopped putting author notes in the middle of the chapter, a friend told me that they take away from the reading experience. Read and Review! what did you think? innner demons could make a very powerful clan. and it makes you wonder... HTF did Iku kill an entire clan of people that had demons sealed inside them? Duh, hes like uber strong:D**

**I hope your curious about what demons are sealed within Zal and Yuki. Guess what... You'll find out in chapter 7! Also in chapter 7, the hunter tourny! It will be almost as much fun to write it as it will be to read it, i hope. Onaga will be summoned in all his glory to fight as Zal's companion in one of the matches. if your dissapointed about that match... then i'll eat the sox that I'm wearing while i'm writing this. (I'm barefoot right now) And just because I can, here's a teaser of chapter 7! (I hope i dont give away what demon is sealed inside Zal with the teaser) :p**

Sarutobi's eyes bulged and his pipe dropped from nerveless fingers. He only heard half of what the woman next to him was saying. "Of course, you don't think that he would be in as high of a position as he is, if he wasn't stronger than anyone else he's ever fought. His entire clan are feared as the demonic sealmasters. I've yet to see him lose a single round here in the tourny. This is his fourth tournement yet. He's at least 50 years old, though he doesn't look a day over 20."

The third just nodded mutely as he watched the spectecle before him. Zal stood in the middle of the ring, wearing only tattered pants. His shirt had been lost a little while ago in the explosion. Zal stood with his body covered in seals that glowed a menacing dark black. Two horns stood out of his forehead, and two wings and a tail all made of chakra protruded from his backside. He looked towards his oppenent with red eyes and four blue diamonds that surrounded a bright green slit. His oppenent looked at him cooly, and prepared himself for an attack. Zal crouched slightly before erupting from his spot towards the man on the other side of the arena. Rocks flew from behind Zal showering the area because of the increadible speed that he was moving. The man readied his sythe, and rushed fowards to meet Zal's attack. Zal bared his fangs and drew his hand back in preparation of his strike. The crowd was standing in hopes of getting a better view. The impact below knocked them off their feet... literaly.


	7. Sharingan

**Chapter 7**

**Sharingan**

**Warning! Spoiler alert! This chapter may contain infomation from up to chapter 337 from the main series. If you don't want to read the spoiler, then read up till chapter 337 before continueing. This capter will be slightly shorter than I originaly planned, but I thought of a great cliffhanger that I just had to put in there. Read and enjoy.**

The third Hokage sat in his office near the top of the tower, contemplating. He had just received a note that told him of the tourny in two days. Outwardly he was calm and composed. Inwardly he was jumping up and down for joy. Everything he had heard about this from people who had been to some of the previous tourny's made it sound even more exciting than a Jounin exam. Of course far more people participated in this tourny, than any Jounin exam he'd ever been to. He was also allowed to take a few people with him that weren't part of his personal bodyguard. Wasliks Huuga, had agreed to come along as had Draobyek Uchiha. Sarutobi would have them use their bloodline limits so as to note minor details he might miss. The record keeper had given him what little information was available on Zal Ukriz, which wasn't much. His age was unknown, place of birth unknown, relatives unknown. He did specialize in Taijutsu, and some ninjutsu, but he rarely used genjutsu. He was known to have only failed a mission once, when his client tried to kill him. Other than that they couldn't find any information on him in Konoha. But his record keeper told him they might find more at the tourny itself. His wife kept telling him that if he forgot to tell her even one detail once he got back, she would shish-ka-bob him on a 20 foot pole, then go to a volcano and have a BBQ. "She has a funny sense of humor." He thought to himself, as he double checked to make sure he had plenty of paper so as to not run out. Funny or not, he didn't want to make her mad, she had a tendency to ambush him at the worst times... like when he was in a meeting and didn't want to be disturbed. Or she could always take his favorite seaweed and throw it out. Now that was a scary thought.

"Hokage-sama, You told me to report to you as soon as Zal Ukriz left Konoha for the tourny. He just left, five minutes ago." The third turned around and faced the Anbu who was bowing respectfully in front of his desk.

"Thank you Wolverine, that will be all." The Anbu stood up and left the room. Sarutobi headed down to his escort, that were waiting downstairs. It had been awhile since he had been on vacation, and this was the closest thing he would have in awhile. He might as well enjoy it.

Zal sped through the tree's towards his goal. It was a good thing that last mission had been to wipe out a very large clan from the village hidden in the mist, the clan had wanted the Huuga eyes... well they didn't anymore. Those people had given him enough of his chakra back, that the tourny shouldn't be a problem. Still he was concerned. What if Iku managed to gain his power back faster than Zal had anticipated? No matter how much he tried, there was no way he could get back all his power without the object his father had given him all those years ago. And he didn't have it right now, maybe never again. And if Iku wanted to find him, all he had to do was go to the tourny. Iku would know that Zal would be there. "Well, while there's no harm in being prepared for anything. There is harm in worring about the future when you should be thinking about the present." He smirked to himself. He needed to stop talking to himself, people might think he was crazy.

The trip took two days for a average ninja to travel. Zal had always made it in one. Of course if you knew him well, you would know he was always kind of a stamina freak. He never stopped at night for sleep. When Zal got there the place was swarming in particapants, and people who were coming just to watch. While Zal could see everything that happened around him, because of his hearing and his chakra. It still wasn't the same as actually "Seeing" everything. As one of the nine, he was able to get room and board for free, at any inn he went to in this town. He happened to have a favorite, it was called "The Demons Lair". A lot of rough people habited the place, but he knew the owner. And they had been friends for a long time.

When Zal got inside he masked his chakra and slipped inside the kitchen where he knew she would be. He used chakra to cling to the ceiling as he snuck up behind her. "BOO!" He said while tapping her on the shoulder. Then he had to avoid a iron skillet that came flying for his head. "Erawtfos, hey its me Zal. So stop trying to kill me."

She went and picked up her skillet, then gave him a bright smile "Give me a hug ya' ol' raggamuffin." He went to give her a hug and got a 15 lb cast iron skillet in the face for his troubles. "That was for trying to scare me again!" Then she gave him a hug and said "And that was for giving me a visit. How have you been? Where do you live now? How's lil' Yuki-chan doing? I want ta' know everythin'." So Zal sat down and preceded to tell her everything that had happened in the last few years.

A man in a dark cloak arrived in Drogar, the town that the tourny was to be held in. He wore a mask covering his lower face, and his eyes glowed mysteriously. It had been a long time since he had been here. And it hadn't changed a bit. Zal would most likly be surprised to see him there. Then again maybe not. After all, where else would he go this time of the year? He walked the back alley ways, because he felt more comfortable in the darkness. Apparently so do thugs.

"Alright mister, I'm the best bounty hunter in the world, and I'm gonna beat even the nine tailed rank hunter and get his title tomorrow. So if you know whats good for you, you'll hand over all your cash nice and easy." The man's upper lip curled slightly, apparently some people don't know an immortal when they see one. But thats ok, he could use one more heart before the tourny. He needed a new one that had an wind affinity anyways. In less than a minute later he walked on down the alley way again, leaving behind the bleeding corpses of a few men who had never thought, that they would be the ones to die today.

Zal went out for a walk on the town, in hopes of clearing his mind. When he was out he bumped into one of the other nine hunters, Kakuza. A powerful hunter indeed. He usually carried five hearts within his body, and the only way to kill him was to kill all five. He also had many other abilities, that made him a force to be reckoned with. He filled the position of the one tailed beast. Zal filled the position of the eight tailed beast. "Hello Kakuza, it's been awhile. Ten years I believe. How have you been?"

Kakuza replied easily "Hello Zal, yes it has been some time. I've been fine thank you. My my, you haven't aged a single day. How do you do it? What do you think of this years crop of canditates? Think we will get a new hunter this year?"

Zal laughed, before answering "I haven't really seen this years crop yet, and as far as a new hunter. I doubt it, unless you plan on losing."

Kakuza then said "Hmmm, most likely true. But, I've heard alot about a new hunter though the grapevine. He wields a sythe and is supposedly never even gotten scratched. He's very fast, and supposedly extremely strong as well. He might be one for you to watch out for."

Zal looked at him puzzled "Why would I need to watch out any more than the rest of you? After all, he's more likely to only fight me if he requests it, and I accept."

Kakuza smirked slightly before saying "Because... He has already said, he will challenge you to the death."

They parted ways soon after that, Zal wondering who this man was. And Kakuza wondering what sort of jutsu Zal used to make him seem as young as he had been 30 years ago.

The tournement had finally begun. It was being held in a giant stadium. Famous architects from the north had been the ones to build it. For those who had never seen it before, and even those who had, it was a work of art. The size alone caused awe from the highest of lords, to the lowest of peons. The stadium was shaped like an enormous crown, with one side reaching a peak of nearly 150 feet. The nine bounty hunters sat down on seats of honor near the top of the stadium. A loud anouncer spoke over the stadium "Welcome ladies and gentlemen. Today is The Tournement we have all been waiting for ten years to see. Three thousand hunters from all over the world have come to fight in this tournement, for the chance of becoming a legend. To become one of the legendary **NINE TAILED HUNTERS**! Let the fights begin!"

The crowd watched in excitement as the preliminaries were nothing but chaos. The first three rounds each had one thousand hunters in a free for all match. The last six standing from each round made it past the preliminaries. The next 9 rounds were paired in one versus one battles, to determine who would get to fight the legendary nine. The first match past the preliminaries was over before it started. Literally. A man wielding a giant club simply told his oppenent to forfeit, and he did. The man who had forfeited smiled as he walked away. Simply getting into the tournement was enough to ensure he could get contracts at any small village, and even some of the larger ones. He saw no point in risking it all just for a chance to fight someone who could kill him as easily as they would kill a fly.

The next was a round between a unknown hunter and one who called himself "The Deadly Streak." Once the match began people saw why he called himself that. As soon as the announcer said "Begin" He tore off his robe and rushed his oppenent wearing... nothing. Thats right he was completely nude. The only thing he had was his knife, which was about six inchs long and two inchs wide. The "Streak" moved at extreme speeds, almost as if defieing gravity. He was also skinny and very limber, allowing him to pull off moves that turned the crowds mocking laughter into cheers of enthusiasm. He rushed his opponent and did the splits at the last second, while sliding between the legs of a very unfortunate man, tripping him in the process. Then he did a handstand and flipped into a spiraling kick that sent the other man flying, face first into a rock. His opponent didn't get back up.

All the other matchs were fought in almost the same manner. No one wanted to use any chakra till they fought one of the nine. The matches got so boring that half the crowd left for snacks or some other reason till these matches were over. The only matches anyone really wanted to see anyways were those of the legendary hunters. Finally the time had come for the matches against the hunters who's titles could make any man more famous than the lord of any of the four great countries.

Match one of the finals: Kakuza The one tailed hunter Vs. The Deadly Streak.

Kakuza rose from his place of honor and made his way to the fighting grounds below. Zal smiled, no need to wish him luck. You would need more than just a little skill to beat Kakuza. And even if u managed to kill him, some people just refuse to stay dead.

Once they both got below the took their fighting positions. The streak preparing his knife and Kakuza looking at him as you would a frog, that you are deciding what would be the most satisfying way to dissect it. "Let the match begin." The streak rushed Kakuza but this time he preformed a some hand seals and shouted **Lightning style: Thunder clone Jutsu**, and suddenly he multiplied. But each and every image of him was crackling with electricity, as it coursed through their bodies. Kakuza smiled, this could be a problem. But then again, no it wouldn't. After all, he had the some impressive wind justu's. All the clones suddenly attacked, but Kakuza evaded each attack with an ease born of years of practice. Then Kakuza suddenly went on the offensive, **Wind Style: Blades of the Tempest**. Blades made of wind went spinning out in every direction slicing through each of the clones as if they were made of wet tissue. Unfortunately, the streak had the same fate as his clones. When the dust settled you could see the body sliced into ribbons.

"And the winner of the first of the final rounds is Kakuza! The next match is between the Zal The eight tailed hunter Vs..." The announcer was cut off suddenly by a man who appeared in the center of the arena. The man wore a black cloak, and a hood that covered his whole face except his mouth, and he carried a sythe that had a red handle and a blade of the darkest shade of ebony. The man spoke loudly using chakra to enhance his voice. "I'm sorry but the contestant who was going to challenge Zal is... unable to fight right now. Therefore I will be taking his place."

This started to cause an uproar among the crowd, some unknown was going to take the place of someone who they had seen in combat, and whom they knew was an excellent fighter? The very idea! The two fights people wanted to see the most was that of the eight tailed hunter, and the nine tailed hunter. Who dared to intrude on their entertainment? Shouts and exclamations to this degree were traded amongst the observers. But as the man who they had been about to announce was unable to be found, they judges decided to agree with it. Therefore the announcer stated "Well it seems that the one who was going to fight Zal is unable to be located. Therefore this man in the center of the ring shall be the one to enter combat with The eight tailed hunter."

To the crowd Zal appeared perfectly calm, but to the other hunters who knew him well, all hell was about to break loose. Zal went down to the center of the stadium and threw off his crimson cloak. Then Zal spoke and the entire stadium went dead silent. "Hello, brother. I wish I could say what an unexpected surprise, but to tell the truth. I'm not surprised in the least.I believe that we have some unfinished business to attend to." Iku smiled and simply got into a stance that the only person in the crowd had ever seen before was the one facing him at that moment. The announcer spoke "Let the match begin!"

The charged eachother at speeds that left the entire crowd speechless. Zal using a short sword slashed at Iku from the front, before flickering behind him to deliver a blow to Iku's back. The blow was blocked by an unseen object. Iku whipped the sythe around forcing Zal to pull back, so as not to lose any limbs. Then Zal spoke "So while you may have changed to a different sythe you use chakra to create an invisible whip-blade, as if it was the old sythe you used. I should have expected as much."

Iku smirked before replying, "You always were good at thinking about the moment. Though I was always better about thinking of the long run, and therefore, I will win. Because I've predicted this entire battle, and I know exactly how it will end."

Zal growled and rushed again attacking from all directions, and yet no matter how fast he seemed to go, he never landed a single blow on Iku. Then Zal jumped extremely high into the air and preformed a set of hand seals "**Fire Style: Twin dragons of Bahamut**." A flaming pillar erupted from his mouth splitting up into twin dragons that rushed towards Iku in a fury. Iku smiled again and whispered to himself "All is going according to plan" and stood his ground waiting for them to get there. The resulting explosion caused a cloud of smoke and dust to reach 50 feet high. When it cleared Iku was standing in the center of the blast area, his cloak was gone now and his pants where slightly singed, but he seemed otherwise unscathed. Zal landed and contemplated his next move. But as they both stood there for a second the entire crowd gasped. They looked exactly alike! The only way to tell the difference between the two was their clothes and Iku's sythe. Then Iku smiled and said "Nice, I haven't seen you use that one in quite awhile. Lets see how you like this one. You can't do this one unless you have an affinity for lightning" Then he also jumped up into the air, the clouds unnaturally drew together and began spiraling above his sythe "**Lightning Style: Odin's Oblivion**" Lightning began to strike his the blade of his sythe, and collecting there forming a ball of energy. Then Iku moved as fast as the bolts of lightning that had struck his blade and charged Zal, it only took a split instant, and the result was an explosion that dwarfed the one Zal had made earlier. Before the cloud even started to clear Iku was back to his starting spot. Now things would start to get interesting.

Throughout the entire match a woman had been chattering nonstop to poor Sarutobi, about this hunter and that one. He had just been starting to tune her out when Zal was hit by an enormous ball of lightning. When the smoke cleared half the crowd gasped and the other half was dead silent. Sarutobi's eyes bulged and his pipe dropped from nerveless fingers. He only heard half of what the woman next to him was saying. "Of course, you don't think that he would be in as high of a position as he is, if he wasn't stronger than anyone else he's ever fought. His entire clan are feared as the demonic sealmasters. I've yet to see him lose a single round here in the tourny. This is his fourth tournament yet. He's at least 50 years old, though he doesn't look a day over 20." The third just nodded mutely as he watched the spectacle before him. Zal stood in the middle of the ring, wearing only tattered pants. His shirt had been lost a little while ago in the explosion. Zal stood with his body covered in seals that glowed a menacing dark black. Two horns stood out of his forehead, and two wings and a tail all made of chakra protruded from his backside. He looked towards his opponent with red eyes and four blue diamonds that surrounded a bright green slit. His opponent looked at him cooly, and prepared himself for an attack. Zal crouched slightly before erupting from his spot towards the man on the other side of the arena. Rocks flew from behind Zal showering the area because of the incredible speed that he was moving. The man readied his sythe, and rushed forwards to meet Zal's attack. Zal bared his fangs and drew his hand back in preparation of his strike. The crowd was standing in hopes of getting a better view. The impact below knocked them off their feet... literally. The speed that they were moving at made even the eight legendary hunters stare in astonishment. Zal appeared to be flickering from one spot to the next, like an image that couldn't keep it's form on a TV. Iku was moving just as fast, at least at first. As time went on Zal kept increasing in speed, until only a few people in the audience could keep track of his image, mainly those who had bloodline limits that helped them in one way or another.

Iku suddenly slammed his hand to the ground and shouted **Summoning Jutsu**! A giant cloud of smoke apeared, and everyone could see the form of something huge inside, that is everyone but a certain Huuga. A certain Huuga who was able to see through the smoke as if it wasn't there. That Huuga blanched and jerked in such suprise that he deactivated his bloodline. Sarutobi looked at him in concern "What's wrong? What did you see Wasliks?" He turned and looked back at the Hokage and whispered "A demon..."

When the smoke cleared the crowd saw Iku standing on the head of a dragon. It was jet black, with streaks of gold running along it's flanks. It hovered in the air, it's giant wings holding it aloft. But across from it Zal was also suspended in the air, his chakra wings allowing him to fly as well. Zal spoke first "Well, well. If it's not Drazzilb, you always were loyal to Iku. Not that I blame you considering the... arrangement between you both. But we both know you're no match for Onaga" Then Zal flew back to the ground and performed his own summoning jutsu. When the summoning was complete Zal rode on the head of a crimson dragon, that had black seals covering his body. Both Zal and Iku clasped each of their own hands together and shouted in uision "The dragons oath. I will never interfere in the work of humans unless it effects the lives of those I care about. I will never fight a fellow dragon on unequal grounds. If I must fight a fellow dragon, I will choose one other dragon as my ally for that fight, and include no others. I will only fight a fellow dragon if he has done me an injustice, or if he has fallen away from our teachings. I will never kill a fellow dragon unless he has killed my mate or offspring. Such is the dragons oath, and as such this battle shall commence!" Both dragons blew fireballs at eachother as they rushed to close combat. Zal and Iku resumed where they had left off before, Iku raised his sythe into the air and shouted a jutsu **Lightning Style: Storm of the Breaking**. Lightning bolt after lightning bolt rushed towards Zal and Onaga. Onaga avoiding some, but not others. And Roared in pain when he failed to evade. Zal however stood his ground and summoned a katana. When a bolt of lightning rushed towards him he slashed it the same way you would parry a sword strike, and the blade absorbed the bolt. Then he rushed Iku in a blinding flash in an attempt to use his own lightning against him. Iku smirked and parried the strike with his sythe.

While they were fighting, Onaga and Drazzilb contended against eachother as well. In terms of brute force, Onaga had the upper hand. But Drazzilb had been around for far longer, and knew all sorts of tricks to even the odds. But as Zal had said before, sometimes smarts only did so much against brute force. And Onaga proved that to be the truth. Onaga used his tail and knocked Drazzilb to the ground, the he faced the sky and began gathering chakra for his next attack. A ball of black chakra began to form in his mouth, and with the chakra that began to form a sound began to rise with it. It was like the very lowest base of an organ, and it slowly got louder as more energy collected. Then Onaga faced towards Drazzilb and released the blast in one giant stream of energy. Drazzilb tried to block the attack with her wings, but the overwelming amount of energy was more than she could take. She became unable to sustain her link to this part of the world, and dissapeared in a cloud of smoke. Onaga's purpose had been fulfilled and therefore took his leave as well, leaving Zal and Iku to finish their battle without interruptions.

Iku just blocked another strike and struck back with the butt of his sythe sending Zal plumiting towards the ground. It's said that lightning never strikes the same spot twice. But of course that's assuming that no one is controlling the lightning. And Iku believes that if at first you don't succeed, try a few thousand more times. So he did just that **Lightning Style: Storm of the Breaking**. And he watched as nearly fifty bolts of lightning homed in on Zal and struck him, at the same time. When the smoke cleared Zal was lying on the ground propping himself up with one arm. He slowly raised himself and then said "Well done. Your timing is as good as ever, so good in fact that I will show you something that I have neve shown anyone. The highest form of my bloodline, the **Sealmasters Perfection**." Iku watched as Zal activated the highest level of his bloodline, the four diamonds in the corners of his eyes began to turn sideways till their tips were touching, and forming another larger diamond around the pupil itself. Then the diamonds seemed to liquidfy and melt together to form a circle. "The final stage of my bloodline allows me to form seals instantly on objects of my choice, doing so can allow me to do incredibly complex seals in a split second. One of the greatest jutsu's I can do with this is the **Flying Thunder God**. Many people believe that this is the same jutsu as the body flicker. It is completely different. The body flicker allows you to move at superhuman speeds for a certain time, but the only seals it requires would be done in your head. The flying thunder god is different. With this jutsu you don't move extremely fast, you literally teliport from one place to the next, with the use of seals placed on objects. I'm sure you would like a demonstration, so I'd be more than happy to oblige." Zal threw a scroll into the air and summoned nearly thirty three pronged kunai which he proceeded to throw in Iku's direction. Iku watched as Zal's pupil began to change shape in the form of different seals he had never seen. Those same seals began to be written on the kunai that were heading in his direction. Iku smiled, if what Zal was saying was true, then the only way for Iku to keep from being beaten in a matter of moments was to activate his own bloodline. He put his hands together in a seal and spoke aloud. What he said shocked three people from konoha down to the marrow of their bones. "**Sharingan**"

**AN: Bwaaahahahahahh! If thats not a great cliffhanger I don't know what is. READ & REVIEW! Now that chapter seven is done I'm going to go back and edit The first chapters, so it will be awhile before I update. Anyone curious how to brothers have different bloodlines? Ooohhhh it's going to be fun doing the next chapter, this one was kinda hard because I didn't want Kakuza's fight to totally suck, but I still wanted it in there. Oh well. Now the new jutsu list!**

**Creation Seal activate: Sand golem jutsu**

This jutsu is lower genin level. This jutsu creates a mini golem made out of sand, it is the bases of some very powerfull jutsu's. The user must constantly maintain the composure of the golem as the sand likes to fall apart. This jutsu requires a seal.

**Lightning style: Thunder clone Jutsu**

This nin-jutsu is jounin level. This jutsu creates clones of the user made completely out of lightning chakra. These clones are actually faster than the user himself. but can only take one hit before exploding. If one of these clones manages to get close enough to its target, when it explodes it can do massive damage. This jutsu is jounin level because of the large amount of chakra required to manipulate lightning, and therefore high levels of control for the same reason.

**Wind Style: Blades of the Tempest**

This nin-jutsu takes jounin level chakra control, and chunnin level chakra reserves. This jutsu creates a mini tornado around the user and sends blades of wind out in all directions. This jutsu is not very usefull in an eviroument with teammates, as you can easily injure or kill allies.

**Fire Style: Twin dragons of Bahamut**

This nin-jutsu is jounin level. This jutsu sends out a pillar of fire that splits into two dragons, that will track down and impact a target. This nin-jutsu requires jounin level chakra reserves as the large amount of fire that is required to create these dragons in the first place. This jutsu also requires jounin chakra control in order to control the movement of these dragons.

**Lightning Style: Odin's Oblivion**

This nin-jutsu is anbu level, and can only be used by someone with an affinity for lightning. This jutsu collects lightning chakra into a ball of energy at the end of the users weapon. The amount of energy stored in this blast would be equivilent to twenty bolts of lightning. This is simply a more powerfull version of **Odin's Blessing**.

**Summoning Jutsu**

This nin-jutsu summons a demon from a family of demons that you have a contract. The more chakra used the more powerfull demon gets summoned. A person can only have a contract with one type of demon at a time.

**Lightning Style: Storm of the Breaking**

This nin-jutsu is kage level. This jutsu creates a storm at the location of the user. This jutsu send bolt of lightning after bolt of lightning towards the target untill the user runs out of chakra or cancles the jutsu. One bolt of lightning is powerfull enough to demolish an entire building.

**Sealmasters Perfection**

This is a bloodline limit and can only be used by those of the sealmasters clan. This level of the bloodline allows the user to create seals on objects that the user looks at in a split second. The chakra required to maintain this level of the bloodline makes it more efficient to just write the seals by hand if not in a combat situation.

**Sharingan**

This bloodline is known throughout the land for its abilities to track a target moving at extremly fast speeds, as well as being able to copy any jutsu that the user see's even only once. The only one's known to have this bloodline is the Uchiha clan which is from konoha. Higher levels of this bloodline have other abilities as well.

**Flying Thunder God**

This nin-jutsu is anbu level. This jutsu requires seals on certain objects in order to be performed. These allow the user to teliport to an area around the seal. The concentration required to preform this jutsu is enormas. And due to the large amount of teliporting that would be done in a battle, the amount of chakra required would be enormas as well.


	8. Birth of Crimson Clouds

** AN: wazzup all! it's been awhile because I was editing the first few chapters, now I got my lazy ass to finish them, I present chapter 8 to you! Please enjoy. Then gimme more reviews damnit! excuse my french .**

_Iku smiled, if what Zal was saying was true, then the only way for Iku to keep from being beaten in a matter of moments was to activate his own bloodline. He put his hands together in a seal and spoke aloud. What he said shocked three people from konoha down to the marrow of their bones. **"Sharingan"**_

**Chapter 8**

**Birth of Crimson clouds**

Iku's eyes turned bloodred as three black coma's formed around his pupil. The he looked up at Zal and said "Let the real fighting begin." Zal took hold of his katana again and disappeared, only to reapear in different places near Iku, striking over and over again trying to make him leave an opening. Yet as fast as he teliported Iku always seemed to know where he would appear before he even disappeared. The speed that they were moving was so fast that even the Hyuuga and the Uchiha from konoha could only see a blur. The three pronged kunia that Zal had thrown earlier had imbeded themselves in the ground in a circle around Iku. At a climax of speed they brought their blades together in a contest of strength both determined to outdo the other. The result was and explosion of chakra sending them both different directions. As they stood up they glared at eachother angry that the other wouldn't just lose already.

Then Zal spoke up "How did you gain so much of your strength back so quickly? You didn't have nearly enough time to do that by normal means. You must have done something forbidden. There's no way you got to that level already by staying in the guidelines."

Iku smirked before replying "Yes you are correct, and since you want to know dear brother I'll tell you. I devoured my soulstone."

Zal dropped to his knee's in shock, then he managed to gasp out "You what?! You did that just to gain power? If that is the case then you will never gain fathers respect now. You have done the unforgivable, how could you do such a thing?"

Iku snorted before replying bitterly "Oh? This coming from the one who had everything easy in life. You were born powerful. Brute force came natural to you. You who has won ninety percent of all your battles simply by crushing your opponent with something you never had to work for. While I was born so much weaker that I had to use trickery or some other method to kill my opponents just to survive. You who always had everything so easy, your clan itself became famous throughout other parts of the world, while mine only became known as one of the more powerful clans in four countries. You... who father acknowledged as his heir without even one thought of me. Even with your clan dead, therefore cutting you off from your bloodlines most potent ability I still can't beat you. What would you know about wishing for power? What would you know about just wanting father to admit you are worthy of being his son. But the worst part Zal... was when you betrayed me."

Zal looked at him dumbfounded "**BETRAYED YOU?! YOU KILLED MY ENTIRE CLAN! AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY!** They showed you more respect than you got from your own clan, and let you do whatever you wanted. And you killed them! But the worst part was... you killed Maemi. That was the biggest betrayal of all, and that is the reason you must die!"

Iku took a step back "I didn't mean to kill her but she got in the way of one of my jutsu's aimed for someone else, I told her to stay out of it! It's not my fault!"

Zal bared his teeth in barely controlled fury "That doesn't bring her back, and that doesn't explain why you killed them in the first place."

Iku cast his eyes downward before replying. "All through our lives, whenever you created a toy, and I tried to make one as good as yours, I failed. Yours was always better, often times I would break your toy out of anger. Yet you would always be patient and smack me upside the head once or twice, or not even that. Some times you would simply say "Thank you for showing me how weak that was, now I know I need to make it stronger." then we would laugh and both of us would go work on a new one together. When your clan was better than mine I got jealous again, same as always your things were always better than mine. So once I broke it I figured you would hit me a few times then we would laugh and go try harder to make a better one. But you betrayed me! You didn't try to hit me a few times... you tried to kill me! Why did you try to kill me? All those times in the past you've never been anywhere close to as mad when I broke a toy of yours. What made this so different?"

Zal gripped his katana tighter and said "The difference between breaking an object, and killing people who have never done anything wrong to you is incomparable. You can't just destroy a clan then make a new one. There's so much more involved than that. And your clan may have been even better than it is now if you had done one thing. Spent less time worrying about how good it was compared to mine, and spent more time helping it grow. But you never wanted to take the time to nurture anything you made, you only set out the basics and expected it to do the rest itself. It's amazing it grew to be as good as it is without any help from its leader. That just goes to show how great of a clan it really is. And goes to show they don't need you!"

With that Zal rushed him again determined to at least injure him, Iku gripped his scythe more tightly as he prepared for the attack that thanks to his sharingan, was as obvious as if it had been written in a book. To Iku the fight was like watching a movie, then rewinding it and watching it again. But this time you knew what would happen even before the other person did. To Iku it almost felt like cheating, But he found out long ago that sometimes when you aren't blessed with abnormal power you must find other ways to survive. Iku brought his scythe around behind him and waited for the blow that he knew would come from that direction. When it struck he swung it around to the right for the next blow he knew was coming. Again right on the mark.

The main reason Iku didn't like his bloodline was that while he knew Zal's attacks before Zal even made them, he could never actually land a blow on Zal this way. He had to play almost pure defense . And both of them hated playing defense. Another trait they had inherited from their father, was that offense gave them a rush. While defense made them feel inferior. And they really hated that. Another thing that ran in their family (or maybe you can call it a mans thing) they liked to win using brute force, having to win through other means also made them feel inferior. But sometimes you can't choose everything in your life, sometimes you have to work with what you have.

Meanwhile Zal was getting irritated, every time he attacked it was like Iku knew what he would do even before he did. Zal tried to be as unpredicable as possible, yet no matter how hard he tried Iku always had his scythe in place to block before Zal even finished his attack. Then Zal realized he had one advantage over Iku, he could use that jutsu on Iku. Thereby giving him some time to set up a powerful attack to end this fight. Zal gained some distance between them and did some hand signs, Iku saw him preforming a jutsu and immediately began copying it and preforming it as well. If Zal planned on using it against him then it must be potent, so Zal would get it right back at him! they both finished their handsigns at the same time as Zal shouted **Lightning Style: Blinding Agony jutsu**.

A bright flash emerged as Iku unprepared for what the jutsu's effect would be was caught off guard by the same jutsu times two. When everyone in the crowd could see again they saw Iku on his knee's clutching his eyes screaming in agony. Zal flew upwards and began an extremely complicated seal with his bloodline limit. The crowd watched as a seal began to draw itself on the ground with Iku in the center Iku still unable to see clearly stood upright and took a defensive stance to prepare for whatever attack Zal must be preparing for. Zal's eyes flashed as the seal was complete, then he summoned the same large sword he had used on the bandit before, then he spoke just loud enough for Iku to hear him.

"Iku, I'm sure you will remember this blade, as it was given to me by fathers friend and partner. Tremble in fear as you meet your doom!" Then he shouted the name of the technique he was about to use, aloud for the entire stadium to hear, **Forgotten** **Sword Techniques: Death by a Thousand Strikes!** He threw the sword into the ground near Iku and the crowd watched as it began to multiply until there was nearly 100 swords sticking in the ground in different places in the giant seal. Then Zal flew towards the ground at an incredible rate and smashed the middle of the seal with his fist. The impact was so great that the swords came lose from the ground and almost seemed to hover in the air. Then at a speed so great that even the mighty sharingan could not keep up he began moving from sword to sword, slashing at Iku every time before grabbing a new one and repeating the process. To those that had a bloodline limit that allowed them to see objects moving extremely fast, they saw a red and black blur moving from corner to corner of the seal with Iku in the center unable to even move from the speed of the slashes. Then everyone could see Zal in the air directly above Iku with the final sword, Zal screamed his final technique, **Forgotten Sword Techniques: Soul-Reavers Strike!** As he descended some would later claim that they saw a dragon riding in the energy that seemed to surround his blade, this dragon exploded when it made impact with Iku and the explosion completely engulfed the two of them.

When the dust clear the crowd saw Iku lying on the ground and Zal kneeling next to him with his sword driven right through Iku's stomach. Iku pulled Zal in closer and whispered something only they could hear, soon the life faded from his eyes and Zal discovered just how false this victory was. The **Goukakyuu jutsu**! The man now lying in front of Zal was the man who he was supposed to fight originally. Of course there were only three people there who knew what that jutsu was, and all three came from konoha. Zal had never seen it before, and all he knew was that he had finally killed Iku, only to be deceived. But he had no more fury to spend though, he felt so drained that staying conscious was difficult. He staggered slowly toward the exit, he was so out of it he didn't even hear the announcer calling his victory, or the crowd cheering at the awesome fight they had just seen. He barely made it out the exit before his vision started to go black, as he fell to the ground he could hear voices, voices of times long past. Back to his days when he was a demon, and nothing human about him.

_Flashback_

_Zal stood on the edge of a cliff overlooking the valley below. It was a sunny day out and a cool breeze blew through the mountains. Zal heard footsteps behind him. "Hi Zal!" Zal turned and looked at his younger brother who was walking up. He was young and always so cheerful, sometimes a little bratty but a good kid. Iku spoke again "Hey Zal I know what I wanna be when I grow up! I wanna be one of the legendary nine just like you! Then dad will respect me too!"_

_Zal smiled before replying "Sorry Iku but that can't happen. Each race can only have one of their kind as a legendary demon, so with me as the dragon no other dragons can hold a position in their ranks till I give up mine. Just as there can only be one legendary fox, there can be only one legendary dragon. Maybe once I gain the position of Fel Guard then you can become a legendary demon." Iku looked crushed when he said the first part, but when he said that after he became a Fel Guard Iku might be able to then, Iku's eyes light up._

_"Well then I'll just have to help you get stronger than ever so you can become a Fel Guard soon! Then once I get to become a tailed beast I can get dad to be proud of me._

_Zal laughed "Sounds like a plan, so in that order lets race around the valley. If you can keep up with me then you stand a chance of becoming a tailed beast." With that Zal dove off the cliff followed closely by Iku. They beat their powerful wings and soared through the sky as if it was their playground. Zal slowed a little bit so Iku wouldn't fall behind, but not enough for Iku to know it. When they reached the cliffs on the other side they took a break and gazed down on the valley again._

_Iku spoke first "Brother why do we protect the humans in that village below? What do we get out of it? We protect them and all they do for us is make statues of us in the middle of their village. What good does that do us? You can't eat statues."_

_Zal's laughter roared through the valley "No you can't eat them, not unless you like chipped teeth. By protecting the villagers we gain respect for our race. And we watch over the village because sometimes the village will bare a special child. This child will make a contract with us dragons, and use his/her chakra to summon us in times of need. Normally when we kill a creature we gain about five percent of their total chakra to us __permanently__. But when we kill a creature during a summoning period, we gain up to fifty percent of their chakra. You see when summoned we become so much more powerful. Father became as powerful as he is because his human partner Cloud Strife used him to defeat many powerful foes. And while there is some risk involved, the rewards are much greater than the risk. Perhaps one day you will gain a contract with someone and become even more powerful than me and father put together."_

_Iku's eyes became as big as his head as he thought about something so wonderful as that, then he posed a question that made even Zal shudder "Zal, I heard an elder talking about consuming his soulstone to become really powerful! Is that true? Can you become really powerful by consuming you soulstone? And if so why doesn't everyone do it?"_

_Zal looked sorrowfully at Iku before replying "Because if you consume your soulstone, while you become __incredibly__ more powerful than if you dont, there are two major drawbacks. One a soulstone evolves as the being it belongs to gets stronger. That person will continue to gain power from his/her soulstone, if you consume it you gain incredible amounts of power, but... you will never gain anymore power from it again. The other downside to it is this. If you consume your soulstone and die... you can never be reborn. As you know if a demon dies he goes back to his first form. In other words you would lose all the power you have gained in your lifetime, and return to egg form. But if a demon dies after having consumed his soulstone... Its as if he has consumed his own soul, there is no return from a fate such as this, no rebirth lies in store for someone who has done such a thing."_

_Iku shuddered at the thought of such a horrible fate "Then if it's so terrible to use it why would anyone do such a thing?"_

_Zal shook his head and replied "To some people, power means more than anything else. More than even their own soul. Also people only consume their soulstones if they plan on doing something big. The few demons that have tried to take over the entire human world all consumed their soulstones. Those that do so deserve the abyss that they plunge themselves into. After all what could be worse than giving up your immortality."_

_End Flashback_

Zal needed to get back to Konoha and Yuki. Yet something was stopping him, and he wasn't sure what. It was like chains trapping him, keeping him from getting to the one person in his life that still mattered. He struggled against these chains yet they wouldn't even budge. He felt so helpless, but he was sure of one thing. If he could open his eyes he could figure out a way to break these chains. It was difficult because his eyes didn't want to open. It felt like they weighed 100 lbs each. He finally managed to open his eyes and look around. The so called "Chains" were nothing more than a blanket thrown over him on a bed. "Odd I don't remember blankets being this heavy. What kind of blanket weighs so much I can't even move?" He mumbled to himself.

"Hah ha ha ha, it's a perfectly normal blanket Zal, you're just so tired that most babies have more strength than you do right now." Zal noticed Erawtfos standing in the doorway laughing at him.

He frowned "You seem to be in a good mood, did you find some unlucky tourist and swindle him out of all his money?" She laughed harder before replying, "Funny you should mention that actually, I didn't swindle a tourist, more like twenty of them. Not that that is really important right now. You went pretty far that battle, you should have heard the crowd once it was over. They couldn't even start the next fight till about an hour after yours. Thats how long the crowd was roaring and chattering about it. I got sold out of all my Dragon rider merchandise."

He gave her a funny look, "What the heck is a dragon rider? And why would it sell because of my fight?"

She laughed again "Your a dragon rider baka, sure thats not what you call yourself but it sounds cool and the crowd likes it, so it sells. I just wish I had known you would go all out like that, I would've gotten double what I did have."

He grunted before replying "Well whatever, I need to get back to Yuki in konoha. I don't like leaving her alone for to long." He managed to sit up for a second before he noticed something. "And where the hell did you put my clothes? Do you expect me to travel to konoha naked?"

She gave him a sour expression before tossing him a pair of pants, which he noted wern't his. "You'll have to make do right now. With the condition your clothes are in you might as well be naked if you tried wearing them again. And if you try going home right now I'll hit you with a my frying pan so hard you'll be out for a week."

He cringed, she could really hit hard if she wanted too. "Fine so what do you want? I need to get back to Yuki-chan as fast as possible, Iku is out there somewhere I know it. Somehow he managed to use some jutsu that made someone else look like him, and he spoke through their mouth from afar. This persone even had the same chakra signature as him. I don't know how he did that, I've never even heard of a jutsu that copies chakra signatures too. Iku is smart, by coming to this tournement he may have discovered what village I was last seen at. As well as my blindness, which if he found out that there is no limit to the ways he would exploit it."  
She look grimly at him "Perhaps, but I think Yuki will be safe for now. Your in no condition to fight him if u met him right now anyways, you can barely move. Knowing you one nights rest and you'll be as good as new. So get a good nights rest then head back. It would be almost funny if the one of the legendary nine got killed by a bandit on the way home to konoha because he was to tired to defend himself."

He gave her a look that said "bite me" and laid back down again, one nights rest wouldn't hurt he supposed.

Meanwhile the Trio from konoha we discussing the fights. Or more like the Uchiha and the Hokage were, the Hyuuga was thinking silently about the events. Draobyek Uchiha was saying "Hokages-sama, that jutsu is known as the **Goukakyuu jutsu. **It's a jutsu we Uchihas have devoloped over the years, though not perfected quite yet. It allows the user to take control of the targets mind and impose the users own chakra and image into the body. The downside is that you can't give it more than 50 of your own strength, and also you can't do anything else while maintaining it. Also bloodlines when used through this jutsu are drastically reduced. So for someone who has the highest level of whatever bloodline the posses, when using this jutsu they can only reach the minimum level, those who only have minimum level normally won't be able to even use it at all. Its a good jutsu for doing things from afar to distract or delay you opponents. However the thing that puzzles me is this, the user of that jutsu. He must've been able to do one of two things. One: He must have figured out how to do more than 50 of his power into that jutsu, or two... He must be stronger than anyone I've ever met, even you Hokage-sama."

There was a short pause before the Hokage replied "Hmmmm, interesting. Not someone I would want to make an enemy of. But I have a question, he was obviously an Uchiha, do you recall anyone from your clan by the name Iku?"

Draobyek shook his head "I've never known anyone from the Uchiha clan by that name, and while I don't claim to know everyone in our clan. Anyone of his caliber would have been famous throughout our entire clan. I don't know how he got the sharingan, but I have a few theories. Both the Uchiha and the Hyuuga have been targeted for a long time now for their eyes. It's possible that an minor Uchiha was killed and his eye's stolen. Then transplanted into someone who was already really powerfull. But then that doesn't explain something else. Only an Uchiha can deactivate the sharingan once its active. So if he can survive he must have either found a way around that or... he may actually be an Uchiha. Another theory is that he was an Uchiha kidnapped at birth and his parents told their baby died. This is the most likely theory I have as the other one is very flawed."

The Hokage nodded his head, before asking the Hyuuga. "Wasliks, what is your input on this matter?" The Hyuuga looked up confused. He looked around as if he had forgotten where they were in the first place, a sign of just how deep in thought he was.

"I apologize Hokage-sama, my mind was on other matters. What was the question again?" Sarutobi shook his head an chuckled, one of the finest ninjas he had ever known had just gotten lost in though to the point he didn't even know where he was. He must have something big on his mind.

"Nevermind Wasliks, I suppose it can wait till we get back to Konoha. I suppose we should get ready to go. Even this short time gone I shudder to think of all the paperwork that has piled up while we've been away." As they headed out Wasliks kept thinking of what he had seen. Draobyek's sharingan had missed it because Zal was in the way, but Wasliks Byakugan could see right through Zal and he read the final words that Iku had spoken right from his lips.

The final words the person named Iku spoke were, "I win Zalagrim, I win. You spent all that energy in order to kill a fake! And I have gotten to see how much of your power you have gained back. I have a plan, I now know that even after consuming my soul stone I am not strong enough to beat you by myself. But with the power of the legendary demons maybe I can! I will beat you Zal, my plan has just been set in motion, soon the entire world will tremble at my name. **Tremble brother Akatsuki is born**"

**AN: BAM!! took forever but I finally got around to doing it. I was tempted to start on more but that was such a good ending for the chapter I couldn't resist. READ AND REVIEW!!!! I do read your review and yes they motivate me to spend more time writing. No review equals me taking forever to update. Of course if you didn't like it i suppose you dont care if i take forever to update. For those of you who do care gimme those reviews )** ** Next chapter will be the ending of this time period in Konoha, and the start of certain kids in their Genin life. Hope you look forward to reading it. On a side note I'm sorry I didn't make this longer but as I said, it was too good of an ending for this chapter to use something else, don't hate me. /**


	9. Perverts and Sensei's

**AN: Hello I'm back in action, this chapter will take place after the academy for Yuki and Akira. Find out a little bit more about them than you may have known before. What kind of fighting styles they use. What their weapons of choice may be. Probably won't be as intense as chapter 8, but hopefully you still enjoy it. Give me reviews after your done, tell me what you think.**

**Perverts and Sensei's  
**

"Damit I'm late!" A girl about the age of 12 could be seen running towards town. She had red hair that reached down to the middle of her back, and very bright blue eyes. She wore a black short sleeve shirt and black pants that had lots of cargo pockets. She wore a blue belt with the buckle that seemed to be a dragon biting its tail. She had a leaf village headband which she used to keep her hair out of her face. And she wore chainmail gloves on her hands with a metal plate on the top of them. She was pissed because the night before she had been out training late and had fallin asleep outside, when she got up she realized she only had 15 minutes before she had to be at school. Normally she didn't care as school was boring, but today they would meet their jounin sensei's for their 3 man cells. And Akira always chewed her out when she was late.

She showed up at the schoolhouse running full tilt into Jiraiya, one of the most well known jounin in the village, for two reasons actually. Nearly every woman in the village had kicked the crap out of him one time or another when they caught him peaking in on them at the bathhouse. And then there was the fact that he was one of the best shinobi in the village, but that was just a side note.

"Well, well. If it isn't Yuki-chan. How are you today my dear? If I'm not mistaken your about to be late to class." She scowled at him, he was a fairly nice man but he almost always had one thing on his mind. It was impossible to carry on a conversation with him in public because if any pretty girl walked by he stopped listening to what you were saying and became completely entrapped with whoever this beautiful woman was. Him being such a pervert was so annoying. Good thing she would be to busy training under her new sensei that she would hardley ever see him. The man was so perverted it was scary.

So she just nodded her head and hurried past him towards class. She made it inside 30 seconds before the bell rang. Shinjie-sensei was already starting to read the name of the different 3 man cells. "Team 5: Ukriz Yuki, Akira Tsikyn, Tsubaki Saydori." Yuki looked around and saw Akira he grinned and gave her a thumbs up. She smiled back. Akira had the highest score in class. Tsubaki Saydori was average in class. His one strong point was Genjutsu, which was good as both Yuki and Akira didn't like it much. Yuki had the lowest score in class, although there was a very good reason for that. If she tried she would have gotten a score almost as high as Akira's, but she didn't like all the simple jutsu's and pointless history of shinobi. They couldn't possibly help them in being a better ninja. So each time they took a test she found out what would be the lowest passing score, then she would answer enough questions to pass then leave all the rest blank. Her teachers would get so pissed off when she did this but there was nothing they could really do except send a note to her father. Which Yuki was the one who always got the mail anyways so she always threw them out. Sometimes it was nice having a blind dad.

"Ok you jounin instructors will be showing up shortly, take a break untill then." Yuki and Akira both sat on a bench and talked about old times as they ate lunch. They also speculated about what their sensei would be like even to the point they made wagers of who they would get. Throughout all this chat Yuki thought back to the time when Akira came to live with her and Zal.

_Flashback_

_They stood beside the grave of Akira's father as he was slowly lowered into the ground. Akiras face looked as calm as stone as he watched, not an emotion showed on his face. For anyone watching it would seem he was at a strangers funeral... if not for the streams of tears that rolled down his impassive cheeks. Perhaps he thought the pain would go away if he pretended it didn't exist. Or perhaps he thought that if he pretended he wasn't hurt it would turn out this was just a Genjutsu that would fade away, and he could go see his dad at the end of the day. His mom had died two years prior to his father on a very potent disease that they discovered a cure for a year after her death. His father stopped caring about life after she died, and eventually died when a cliff he usually watched the sunsets from collapsed. The medic-nins said he could pull through if he simply had a will to live. He died the next morning._

_Zal offered him to let him live with them, because he was a good friend of the family. Akira accepted shortly after that and they became his new family. The three of them trained together at the end of every day if Zal was home and not on a mission. Although to everyone else it seemed zal was just being nice. Zal was doing this for reasons other than just to help a person in need. He saw a chance to train an extremely bright young man in the ways of his clan. And perhaps when it came time for Yuki to become married her husband would already be perfect to succeed Zal as head of the clan, based on the fact that her husband had been raised by him. Of course that was something only Zal knew. Even Yuki thought Zal was just being nice to a good family friend._

_End Flashback_

After lunch they headed back inside to wait for whoever it was that was going to train them till they became chunnins. Once inside they sat watching the door waiting for whoever it was that was going to be their sensei for the next few years. Then Jiraiya walked in. He looked around then said "I don't think this is Konohas beauty contest so I must be in the wrong room, damn these halls. Their so confusing." Then he walked out again leaving the genins staring after him thinking "Whew, for a moment I thought he was going to be our sensei." Then he walked back in again confused. Then he asked them "Do you kids know where room number Ten A is?" They pointed above his head at a sign which read "10A"

Jiraiya was begining to look irritated when the hokage showed up. "Well hello Jiraiya, fancy meeting you here. It would seem that these kids sensei injured himself this morning and is unable to work for some time, something about dares and running down cliffs without using chakra. So as luck would have it your here. since you were so kind to show up I'll make you this teams sensei." It took a second before the new sank in for Jiraiya, an when it finally did he looked like he had been told he would never be able to look upon female flesh again.

"But Hokage-sama! What about my research? How can I write my book if I am unable to do more research? All the young men out there waiting in anticipation for the greatest masterpiece of all time only to be told that it was cancled because I must babysit some brats?"

Yuki for a moment gained a small measure of respect for Jiraiya. If he had the dedication to write a series of books then he must not spend all his time being perverted, a small measure of respect... till he said babysit some brats. Then that small measure of respect went down the drain with a flushing sound. She was just about to jump up and give him a piece of what one of these brats could do when the Hokage spoke up. "Jiraiya, this is not a request. This is an order, you will train these fine genin into becoming fine chunnin. Or I will have all your books and writing material confescated and brought to my office where you wont be able to finish another book again." Of course no one knew that the Hokage was just dieing to see what happened in the next book of Jiraiya's. And that he was just going to use that as an excuse to read the book sooner than anyone else. But to Jiraiya it sounded even worse than training these "Brats". So without hesitation Jiraiya ushered the kids outside to the roof of the school.

Once on the roof Jiraiya had them sit in a semi-circle around him, then he said. "Hello children I'm sure you all know me but I'm giong to introduce myself anways. Then after I'm done I want you each to do the same. My name is Jiraiya, things I like are conducting research for my next book. Things I dislike are when anything takes away from my research time. My hobbies would include writing my next book and enjoying the scenery of bathhouses all over the country." At that last part he started to drool as he got an extremely perverted giggle.

Yuki tired of listening to him giggle about stuff she wished hadn't even been brought up, started. "My name is Yuki Ukriz, things I like are learning new seals and more taijutsu styles. Things I dislike are perverted old men." with that she glared at Jiraiya before continueing "My hobbies would be training with my father and Akira, and learning kool new jutsu's."

Akira started off right when she finished. "My name is Akira Tsikyn. Things I like are learning new ninjutsu and new taijutsu styles as well. Things I dislike would be..." He took a second to think about it. then he continued "I dislike anyone who hurts people just to be mean. And people who judge others before they even know them. My hobbies would be training with Yuki and her dad, and learning anything new." He sat back with a smile satisfied with his input.

Tsubaki spoke up next "My name is Tsubaki Saydori. My clan specializes in genjutsu. Things I like would be figuring out new ways to apply genjutsu in combat. And proving that genjutsu can be as effective if not more so than taijutsu or ninjutsu. I dislike anyone who calls genjutsu worthless." With that he ended and looked over at Jiraiya, who seemed to still be lost in though.

Jiraiya startled suddenly when he noticed it was quiet. "Oh very good then nice to meet all of you. Hmmmm. Well since we've covered introductions then I guess we are done for today. Meet me tomorrow morning at training field seven to begin your training. Be there at five AM sharp, I tolerate no tardyness." With those words he dissapeared from view like a mist.

The three genin started on their ways home each thinking about their new teacher. and each thinking about him in different ways. Yuki was thinking about her horrible luck to be stuck with konohas most perverted ninja. Akira was thinking about how he was the luckiest genin in the world, as he was being trained by one of the best ninjas in konoha by day, and one of the worlds top bounty hunters by night. Tsubaki was wondering if Jiraiya even knew any good genjutsu to teach him.

Yuki and akira got home and walked into the back yard, then without warning Yuki summoned a weapon from a scroll and lashed out at Akira, who did several backflips to avoid it. The weapon was similar to a whip, but was made of segmented blades, that while could be used in a similar fashion to whips. If this thing wrapped around a body part of yours, when it was jerked away you would most likely lost that body part. Akira smiled and grabbed a kunai from his pouch and rushed in. Yuki's weapon called a lasher twirled around her head before rushing at Akira at deadly speeds. Akira jumped to the side as he knocked it away with his kunai, then he rush her again and ducked down low to the ground spinning in circles till he was right in front of her. Then he shot his leg out and kicked her lasher out of her hands and planted a hand on the ground he shot his other leg out to sweep hers from under her.

Yuki placed a hand on his head jumped over him and then pushed off his backwith her feet, by doing so she soared into the air and grabbed her lasher before she landed again about ten meters away from him. She then twirled around at an incredable speed before sending the lasher zooming towards him looking almost like a lance that could stretch. Akira used his kunai to quickly draw a seal in the gound, then placing his hands together in a hand seal he shouted **Creation Seal activate: Sand golem jutsu**. A golem made of dirt rose from the ground nearly six feet tall, and caught hold of the lasher with both hands. Then Akira channeled chakra into his legs and rushed forwards again determined to make contact. Yuki spun around in a circle drawing a seal on the ground with her foot, then she put her hands together and shouted **Defensive Seal activate: Barrier of stone jutsu**. The ground around her rose up to from a sphere of rock around her. This jutsu was often used to create a place to hide when about to ambush an enemy. But being as it was also made out of rock it provided a solid defense as well. Akira smiled and jumped into the air, then he preformed some hand seals and said **Lightning Style: Odin's Blessing jutsu**. Then his kunai began to crackle with the energy that was surging through it. He threw it towards the "Rock" and watched as it shattered like a cracked egg. Yuki wasn't inside. He looked below him to see his golem smashed like a giant foot had stepped on it, and Yuki's Lasher heading towards him. His eyes widened as he realized there was no way for him to dodge in midair. The lasher wrapped around his body several times before Yuki pulled on it. And watched as his body was shredded into several pieces. Then a log appeared where he had been and fell to the ground mutilated. Akira jumped out of a tree and rushed in his kunai at the ready.

"Ok kids thats enough. Time to stop before you actually kill eachother." The looked over to see Zal standing in the doorway. As always they hadn't even sensed him open the door. Akira sometimes joked that the wind made more noise than he did. The "kids" put their weapons away and went inside. As was their daily routine. Rukia Haruno often came over and made dinner with them, which she usually cooked. Zal still couldn't cook to save his life, and Yuki now was more interested in training than cooking. Akira only cooked simple meals which they all got tired of after a few times. Therefore it was normal for her to come over and eat dinner with them. They woudl talk about the day and events. When Yuki told Zal that Jiraiya was to be their sensei he stopped eating for one second, then continued on again. yuki knew what that slight pause meant. Jiraiya was going to get a talking to from Zal, what about she didn't know, but a talk was coming.

_Flashback_

_Yuki had become of the age where the boys started to notice her, and not some of the boys. Every boy in her class with and exception of Akira, bugged her all day long about going on a date with them. Finally she got tired of it and said "Alright, if you want to go on a date with me you have to come meet my dad first. Eat dinner with him and me one time and I will go on a date with you. Naturally none of the boys were going to back down from this. So they fought it out to see who would get to have dinner with her first. The first time she took one of them home her dad met her at the door. As always he had a pretty good idea what she was thinking before she even got home. So they had dinner... that Zal cooked himself. The boy wasn't doing to badly, he never quite barfed while they were eating. After the dinner Zal took him into a room to tell him the ground rules of dating his daughter. Yuki never found out exactly what he said,but every boy that she took to dinner at her home avoided her like the plaugue from then on. After about five of these boys meeting her dad, rumors started around that her dad was a __psychopath__ who's mere gaze could take all joy from your life. After that they never troubled her again. She had a sneaking suspicion that Akira had started those rumors. He had an eye for perfect times to play pranks on people. They were usually very effective too._

_End Flashback_

That night they studied scrolls from the local library, Zal could never get over how large it was. Even in the years they had lived here they hadn't finish all the scrolls about seals. The sheer volume of scrolls and books was astounding. After "Seals time" they would spar against eachother to imrpove. Although it was always Zal versus Yuki and Akira, and while he always won. Their teamwork was amazing, it had gotten to the point that Zal was just blocking evading and striking back without thinking about it. It had gotten to the point that he had to work at it so they couldn't lay a finger on him. And sometimes they almost did. Of course Zal being who he was, would congradulate them saying good job. But then he would go off on his own to train ten times as hard, his thoughts went along the line of this "If these mere kids can almost get me, then I must be slowing down."

What Zal never stopped to think about was that these mere kids, were already close to chunin level in fighting skills. Yuki's chakra levels were already mid-chunin, and Akiras combat mind was up there as well. When the two of them were together, they couldv'e taken down most of the midranked chunin in konoha. Yuki had been combat training since she was only 3 years old, and Akira had one of the sharpest minds you could find in someone that was twice their age. Their teamwork was nearly flawless, but something they would find out shortly. Is that two-man teamwork is alot different than 3 man teamwork. In a three man cell as they were now. They would have to learn to rely on someone they had never even trained with before. None of this entered their minds as they lay on their beds sleeping that night. To them the world was a giant playplace, with no real troubles to speak of.

But one man sitting up late in his office scrambled around with all his paperwork, trying to prevent a war that could take these beautiful young minds and twist them to the point that all they could be used for is weapons. At which point they would cease to be people all together. This man, the protector of this village. The Hokage that would give his life without hesitation in order to prolong the lives of any one person in this village. This man who was known as the Professor, for having mastered every jutsu that was born in Konoha. This man that was so strong not one ninja in all four contries would try to take him on in a one versus one battle. This mighty man who had been the sensei of the three greatest sannin in the known world. This powerfull man... sat down at his desk weeping. A war was coming. And the only thing he could to was delay it. This great man felt so puny this night. He felt like he was alone trying to stop a tidal wave, before it destroyed everything he loved. And his worst fear, the greatest fear he had. Wasn't that he would die in the process... it was that he would live, while those he was trying to save died right before his eyes. This was why he wept that night. The monster called war was coming. And he was merely a fly trying to stop an avalanche.

**AN:Me again sending you the latest and greatest chapter of my fic. Sorry its so short, I haven't had alot of time to work on it and I dont want it to take forever to get each chapter out. So from now on the chapters maybe kinda short. Anyways read and review. lemme know what you think, I know theres not alot of exciting fight scenes in this one but not every scene can be or it wouldn't be much of a story. :)**

**Jutsu/technique descriptions**

**Defensive Seal activate: Barrier of stone jutsu**

This jutsu is chunin level. With this jutsu the user channels chakra into the ground and pulls up a shell of dirt around the user into whatever shape the user chooses. Often used to lay in wait for an oppenent in order to ambush them unaware. The lower levels of this jutsu make a barrier as solid as stone, although some say that the higher levels can reach the hardness of a diamond.

**Goukakyuu jutsu**

This jutsu is Anbu level. This jutsu alows someone to superimpose their own image and chakra into the body of their target. To do so they targets mind must be completely broken or giving complete submission to the user. This jutsu was perfected by the uchihas over the years, as their Kekkei Genkai allows them to utterly break the mind of their target in advance. On known record those who have mastered this jutsu are able to impose as much as fifty percent of their chakra. The use of a bloodline through this jutsu is reduced to the point that those who have complete mastery over their bloodline would barely be able to use the smallest of their bloodlines abilities.


	10. Accidents and Injuries

**Accidents and Injuries**

**AN: Hi all, read and enjoy. If you don't enjoy it blame the gremlin, I blame it on him () **

Jiraiya rushed over towards the hokages office in desparation. He was going to be late and he had a major question that he needed an answer to. He jumped in through the window to the hokage's office, fully ready to do almost whatever it took to get his answer. At least he was fully ready untill he saw his old sensei sleeping with his face down on his desk. Something Jiraiya knew that few other people did was that the hokage rarely got any sleep. And when he did it usually didn't last long because someone would barge in his office and wake him up. Jiraiya was known as a great ninja, who often times would only think of himself when not on the battlefield. But few people knew that he had a soft spot in his heart for his longtime teacher. And seeing him sleeping for what could be the first time in weeks, he didn't have the heart to wake him. Seeing a blanket in the corner of the room he grabbed it and gently covered the man he had always considered his father.

As he left the office he thought it over, while he hadn't gotten his answer from the hokage, he still needed it from someone. And the was only two other people in konoha that could provide him with that answer. Tsunade and Orochimaru. Tsunade was his best bet as actually had time for other people. Orochimaru was always studying to become the fourth hokage, and rarely had time for anyone else. So Jiraiya set off towards Tsunade's house. Any other ninja would have knocked on the door and waited for a reply. Of course Jiraiya isn't any other ninja. He rushed to the window of her bathroom to see if she might be showering. Unluckly for him she had apparently just finished and was wrapping up herself in a towel. She glanced at the window and saw him standing there. She immidiatly thought he had been standing there the whole time, and flung a bar of soap out the window at him.

Now to those that don't know Tsunade is known for her strength. So much so that she is fully capable of causing a crater in the ground with just one finger. So this so called bar of soap suddenly becomes a deadly projectile. And Jiraiya is the unlucky target. And he was unfortunate enough to not be able to get out of the way in time. When he woke up Tsunade had him by the front of his shirt and looked about ready to pulverise him. "Give me one good reason not to completely turn you into a bloody pulp."

Jiraiya never thought so fast in his life. Why was he here again, he must have had a reason. If only he could remember what it was. Then he remembered, and shouted about two seconds before he fist made contact with his face. "Because if I die you have to train those three brats." The incoming fist never made contact. She looked at him suddenly remembering that the hokage had told her about Jiraiya having to train a three man cell.

Then she got an evil smile, a smile that was scaring the shit out of him. "True I can't kill you, but the advantage of being a medical nin is that I can cause you alot of pain and heal you right back up again." The next few hours of Jiraiya's life... well they sucked. Big time. When she finished with him he was still twitching even though you couldn't see any injuries. "So why did you come here in the first place Jiraiya? I know you better than for you to have come on a social call."

He sighed before replying "Well, I seem to have run into a problem. I can't remember what hokage-sama did to us on the first day we were trained by him. I'm no teacher and we both know that. but since I seem to be stuck with the job I might as well play the part. Could you please tell me what we did that first day?" Tsunade thought back then smiled. After she was done telling him he smiled to. This was going to be fun.

As Jiraiya headed towards the training field he was thinking of all the little ways he could use his own little twists to make it more fun for him. He was so deep in thought that he barely noticed as a giant blade came rushing towards him. At the last moment he avoided it and threw several kunai at his attacker. His attacker grabbed one of them and deflected the rest with it. Then flung it towards a tree behind Jiraiya. Jiraiya just noticed the wires that were attached to the tree and dodged the log that came swinging through the air where he had been. As he came up again he noticed his attacker was gone from his place earlier. He was looking around when he felt a pressure at his back... the tip of a sword.

A voice called out to him. "Jiraiya, I am the father of Yuki Ukriz. I have been observing you for a long time now. And I know much about you. If you ever even once do anything perverted around her I swear on my wifes grave that I will show you the rage of a father. If I ever find out you have done anything of the sort near her I will neuter you, so that you never know pleasure from a woman again. I will gouge out your eyes, so that you never get to view the beauty of a woman again. And I will cut off your hands so that you never may work on that book of yours again. After that I will place you in a genjutsu that will make you view extremely old women surrounding you and beating you with clubs. I will hide your body in a cave so that no one will be able to break the genjutsu on you. And you will stay that way for the rest of your miserable life. Be a good teacher and I will let you be, be a bad teacher... and I think you already get my message." With that the man with the sword dissapeared. Leaving Jiraiya to rethink some of the things he had planned for that day.

After all, every man knows not to mess with an angry father. They tend to get violent. So he showed up to the training field only about one hour late. For some reason the children didn't believe him when he told them some stranger assaulted him in the woods. Kids these days, they should hang on every word of someone as great as him.

Suddenly he took out two bells, and held them out in front of him. The kids stopped yelling at him and scolding him for being late, and were silent. He smiled "Your test for today is simple. Get these two bells before noon, or you don't eat lunch. Come at me with a killer intent, or you will never get a bell. Oh and on a final note, if you fail to get a bell... you go back to the academy." That got their attention. None of them wanted to go back to the academy.

Yuki slipped the thong off her weapon and gripped it waiting for the signal. Both her and Akira were ready to go, they were used to teamwork and determined to get the two bells for themselves, Tsubaki already knew Yuki and Akira worked together alot, and that they would be competing with him in order to get the bells. All he had to do would be wait untill they got caught up in combat then use an area effect Genjutsu and trap them all for a short period of time. Then one of the bells would be his. He might give the other to Yuki as he had a small crush on her.

Jiraiya smiled as it was almost cake to read what they all were thinking. He prepared for what was to come before whispering "Go." Akira rushed at him preforming hand signs as he went. **Clone jutsu**. About ten clones of Akira appeared and rushed Jiraiya at the same time. Then as one they all threw kunai at Jiraiya at the same time. Jiraiya watched them before looking at the ground. The fake kunai would leave no shadow on the ground. Picking out the real one he dodged it with seemingly no effort, while ignoring the fake ones as they passed harmlessly through his body. Suddenly Jiraiya heard a "POOF!" behind him and looked to see what it was. The kunai that had been real was actually Yuki in Henge. She let her lasher fly towards him, its deadly blades whistling in the wind. Jiraiya had to admit he had never seen a whip combined with a chain blade. It was an interesting weapon. But he got the feeling it would hurt pretty badly if he let it touch him. Whipping out his kunai he deflected it and turned around in time to block an attack form Akira. Yuki's weapon came around to take his head off as Akira kept him occupied with his own kunai.

Jiraiya used two fingers to jab the kunai away as he deflected yet another attack from Yuki. In the middle of combat Jiraiya noticed that the whiplike weapon Yuki was using preformed oddly like a tail from some giant lizzard. And the control she had over it only seemed to add on to that image. To bad for Jiraiya but Akira was good at noticing openings, and the instant Jiraiya was making his observation Akira flashed and reappeared behind him. Jiraiya managed to deflect the blow mostly but he was so taken by suprise that Akira actually managed to draw a little blood. Not enough to injure, more like a scratch. But it was enough for Jiraiya to realize that this kid was no joke. But what the kid had just used seemed oddly like the body flicker. But there was no way a kid his age could use such an advanced jutsu. That would be impossible.

What kind of training had this kid been through to be capable of something like that. Whatever is was Jiraiya was not going to let them catch him offguard. Akira smiled briefly before rushing in again to engage Jiraiya. The main problem Jiraiya was having was that while it wouldn't be hard to beat Akira or Yuki, together they made him have to defend more. He knew tons of jutsu and techniques that could be used to utterly beat either of them. But most of those jutsu's or techniques would kill them. The only ones he could think of at the moment he couldn't execute because whoever he tried to use it on, the other person would interupt.

Yuki shouted out a jutsu **Sealmasters Secrets: Transformation of the Lizard**. Her nose elongated into a snout, and her eyes became slits. Her skin became a pale blue and her lasher transformed into a bladed-tail. Attacking with a fury that dwarfed Akiras earlier attacks. Jiraiya had to admit this was getting to be more dangerous than he had planned. Jiraiya guessed by the looks of the jutsu it could be dispelled in a similar way to dispelling a genjutsu. But you would have to get close... close to a giant lizzard person with a tail full of blades. Not very appealing.

**Shadow clone jutsu**! Jiraiya said as clones popped into existance. They imidiately engaged Yuki dodging strikes and returning them again. One of them managed to get close enough to preform the required jutsu. **Jutsu Release**. And that simply her jutsu dissapeared reverting her back to normal, but she managed to take out the clones with a final sweep of her tail before completely reverting. Akira was rested by now and attacked again while Yuki took a breather.

Jiraiya and Akira went at it for quite some time while Tsubaki lay in the bushes waiting for his chance. Jiraiya was frankly getting tired of trying to use jutsu's only to get interupted in the middle, so finally he decided to just finish it without them. Pure close combat would be how he would finish it.

Suddenly he saw an opening in Akira's guard, a simple tap with the hilt of his kubai would put him out of comission instantly. And thats what he did. Smiling as he did so only to gasp in horror. What he thought had been the hilt had been the blade! His kunai had sunk itself deep into Akira's chest and Akira's face was frozen in shock. For possibly the first time in his life Jiraiya dropped to the ground unable to do anything. He had just killed his student. It wasn't like he had never killed before. But he had never killed an ally much less a child! Yuki futilly struggled to stop the blood that flowed from his chest, trying against all odds to save someone that Jiraiya could see at a glance wasn't going to make it. Jiraiya sat there stunned, the test completely forgotten.

Suddenly Jiraiya heard a sound. It was familarbut he couldn't place it. then he realized what it was. A bell, was tinkling. Odd there was no one around with any bells but him. Suddenly Jiraiya got a desparate idea, if it worked his sanity would be saved! KAI! Suddenly Akira was no longer lying on the ground but was standing up grinning from ear to ear, holding... a bell. He saw Yuki sitting on the ground rocking back and forth arms wrapped around her knee's. And Tsubakiwas sitting on a log holding the other bell. Jiraiya felt so ashamed of himself, he had fallen for a gennins genjutsu. He had to admit it had been good. The timing was flawless and there had been no giveaways in it, no mistakes. That Tsubaki kid was good. He really knew his stuff.

Jiraiya smiled evily, they may have gotten the bells. But he wasn't finished yet. "Congratulations! Akira, Tsubaki. You both pass, Yuki since you failed to get a bell, not only do you not get lunch, but you have to go back to the academy!" Yuki was trembling in anger. Suddenly it occured to Jiraiya to wonder if Zal might get angry about this. Would this be condsidered being a bad teacher? Nah, it couldn't be any of his business how he conducted tests. "Oh, and no sharing food with Yuki. Or you fail as well." Jiraiya went to go hide and wait for the unevitable. Soon enough Akira could be seen sharing his food with Yuki. Jiraiya was just about to interupt them when he noticed there seemed to be more to it than just friends sharing. Before he even realized it his notebook was out as he began writing in it. Suddenly a man wearing black and crimson popped into his mind, and he was sharpening a large knife. Jiraiya suddenly decided maybe now would be a bad time for working on his story.

Jiraiya suddenly appeared behind Akira just as he was feeding Yuki another bite. "Well, well. It looks like you want to go back to the academy too huh Akira."

Akira smirked before replying "Not really, but if I have to I have to. The well being of my teammates are more important than any old mission. Besides, you never intended to send us back to the academy did you?"

Jiraiya did't like that, this kid had read his mind way too easy. Just what was with this kid anyways, he had heard this kid was smart but that didn't even begin to cover it. Managing to hold his own with Jiraiya even if Jiraiya was severly handicapped by not being able to use most of his jutsu due to risk of killing the kid. Still, in taijutsu even with a partner he shouldn't have been able to last one second. He shouldn't have even been able to track Jiraiya's movement. Maybe being a teacher wouldn't be so bad. Not with a student like that. Well they had passed, and obviously teamwork was no problem for Akira and Yuki, and Tsubaki probably wouldn't have much difficulty with it. Screw anymore games with it they passed. "Allright you all pass, you're all released for the day, meet me here tomorrow same time. Then the real training begins."

Zalagrim Ukriz watched from a short distance away. He watched the whole thing, the fight, the genjutsu that Tsubaki used on Jiraiya. He also watched when Jiraiya was about to start writing on his little notepad. A little bit of killer intent sent towards him kept him from doing anything with it. Once they were released Zal vanished without a trace, he couldn't be prouder of Akira and Yuki. They did a good job, and despite being the biggest pervert he had ever met, he was a good ninja. He would make great ninjas out of both Yuki and Akira.

One day Yuki would have an heir, and their clan would live on. Zal was already thinking of different demons to seal within the child to make it more powerful. Onaga was out of the question as he had said before he would only ever be sealed in a human if it was Zal's son. Iku would simply try to take over the body of the young one, so that left him out of the question. And most of the other dragons he knew wouldn't be powerful enough to make the kid as powerful as Zal wanted. Zal wracked his brain thinking of a demon worthy to be sealed within the heir of the sealmasters clan. Finally he gave up and decided to think about it later. No big hurry after all, she wouldn't be having a child for at least five more years.

With that he headed off to go train some more. He had another mission coming up, and he would be gone for quite some time. Might as well make sure he was in tip top condition beforehand.

**AN: sorry for taking so long, my computer is out of commission again and I have to type this on a diff computer (Which sucks), also this computer has no internet so I have to post Via yet another computer (My dads which I can only use like once a week) Read and review!! I demand to know what you think! By the way, candy bars are good! (I just had one, im addicted to them!)**

**Jutsu list**

**Jutsu Release****: This jutsu is anbu level for the amount of chakra and control required. This jutsu is used to disable other jutsus that are being maintained, such as a Henge or water walking. This is done by disturbing the chakra flow through the targets body, causing all jutsu's being maintained by target to fade.**

**Shadow clone jutsu****: This jutsu is anbu level. With this jutsu the user creates exact copies of himself. These copies can preform any jutsu that the creator is able to use as well. These copies cannot take as much damage as the original person and therefor dispell if they take a certain amount of damage. The amount of damage they are able to sustain is determinded by the mastery the user has over this jutsu. This jutsu is also dangerous to the user as his/her overall amount of chakra is divided equaly amoung all the clones.**

**Clone jutsu****: This jutsu is gennin level. This jutsu is similar to shadow clones, with an exception that these clones are mere illusions. These clones cannot preform jutsu's and are easily dispelled. Users who have a low mastery over this jutsu often forget to create shadows to go along with these clones, making it easy to tell the difference between them and the user.**

**Sealmasters Secrets: Transformation of the XXXX****: This jutsu is used exclusively by the Sealmasters clan. This jutsu is used to change the appearance of the user into that of a chosen creature. Often times users of this jutsu merg their weapon of choice into their form giving them a deadly edge over their regular animal counterparts. The level of this jutsu varies depending on the complexity of the animal and of their transfomation. All levels of this jutsu take large amount of chakra.**


	11. Demons and Bloodlines

**Demons and Bloodlines**

**AN: Thanks to everyone who has read my story so far, I read every single review you guys leave me. Thanks again, enjoy chapter eleven.**

Yuki and Akira got home that night happy that they had passed, and gotten the upper hand of their sensei. Even if it was with someone else's help. They noticed Zal meditating in the living room. As always when they caught him busy meditating they sat down next to him and began to meditate too. Shortly he said. "So how did it go?"

Yuki as always was happy to share everything that had happened that day. But Akira interrupted her halfway through. "There's no point in telling him Yuki, he was there the whole time."

Yuki looked surprised at them both. "What? What do you mean he was there the whole time? If he had been there I would have sensed him through our bond."

Akira shook his head. "Not if you were too focused on the fight, which you were. I could tell someone was watching us the whole time, but who I wasn't sure about. Then in our fight, a split second after Tsubaki used the genjutsu on us, I sensed a spike of chakra from the person in the woods. I recognized that persons chakra signature, it was Zal-sama's. He was the one who dispelled the genjutsu on us." Yuki's eyes widened, she had thought Akira dispelled it.

Zal smiled, his eyes still closed. "Yes, it was me. I couldn't very well let Tsubaki get both bells, he might very well have kept them and gotten all three of you failed. Call it cheating if you want, I call it giving you both your shot at something huge. Being trained by one of the best ninjas in this village isn't something to take for granted. Take advantage of this chance. Soon I will teach you both to meditate instead of sleeping. In doing so you can train your mind while resting your body. You're not ready for it yet though, you're still young. And kids need their sleep, because while you sleep you dream. And when you dream... you can see things that don't exist. Sometimes they used to, but something happened and they may have been destroyed." This was why Zal never meditated instead of sleeping at night. Because in his dreams he could be with his wife again. And that was worth any amount of training.

They trained again that night as was customary. Sometimes when Zal thought about it he realized that Akira's chakra levels were extremely high for a normal kid his age. Yuki had a demon inside her, and she had been training since she was a small child. Akira was just a normal kid and yet his chakra levels weren't that much lower than Yuki's. Akira was some kid that was for sure, sometimes Zal wasn't sure the world would be ready for him.

**Timeskip: One Year**

Yuki ran towards the library where they would be meeting today. No way she would be late today. Akira was always early but, thats because he always left so early in the morning. She liked the extra thirty minutes of sleep she got. Although she always ended up having to sprint all the way. She managed to make it with five minutes to spare.

Today they were scheduled to do some research before the chunnin exams. Jiraiya had promised something special for them, although he didn't tell them what it was, he assured them they would like it. Jiraiya showed up exactly on time as he always did. For a lecher he didn't do to bad as a sensei. Akira liked to call him Ero-Sennin. At first Jiraiya got all mad and huffy about it, but now a days he just acted outraged while on the inside he didn't really mind.

"Ero-Sennin what are you going to teach us today? And what's the big surprise? Is it some cool new jutsu's?" Akira was excited, Jiraiya always delivered on his promises.

Jiraiya laughed before waving them to follow him into the library. Once inside he had them sit down and told them the big surprise. "Normally there is a section of the library that is off limits anyone but Anbu, and the Hokage. I have secured permission from the Hokage to take you all back there, and teach you things that you normally wouldn't have learned for years, if at all. You each get to choose one thing, and I will teach you everything about it that is in the records. So Akira you can choose first."

Akira of course wanted to know whatever cool jutsu there was in here to learn. So he said "Teach me the most powerful jutsu known in Konoha!"

Jiraiya frowned at this before replying "I'm sorry Akira but the most powerful jutsu in all of Konoha is only known to the Hokage, its not even in the library records. The things you will find here would be closer to histories about things, research about things people don't believe exist. And knowledge on other villages. The jutsu's are kept in the library in the hokage's tower."

Akira's face fell, but then he remembered something he had been talking with Zal about a while ago, Zal hadn't gone very in depth so maybe Jiraiya would. "Ok then, what can you tell me about the nine tailed demons?"

Jiraiya took a step back shocked "Where did you hear about them? Have you snuck in this section before?"

Akira laughed "No, I haven't. And where I learned about them from doesn't really matter. I don't know much about them, and as you know if there is something I don't know much about, then I wanna learn more."

Jiraiya couldn't help wondering where he had heard of them before but decided to just go ahead and keep his promise. "Well theres alot we know about them, and there's alot we don't know about them. We know there are nine of them, but we only know what four of them actually are. The one tailed beast is known as Shukaku, the wind spirit. His form is a demonic racoon. Even though he is a wind elemental he has the ability to control sand, and uses sand to form his body. While he is the lowest rank, his abilities make him fully capable of taking out virtually anything in his path."

"The two tailed beast is a demonic cat. We don't know it's name yet or its special abilities. We do know it is a lightning elemental."

"The three tailed beast is actually a three headed hydra. We believe that it is a water elemental. Abilities of this one are also unknown."

"The four tailed beast is a wolf. The demons element is earth, and his abilities of elemental fusion make him a creature to be feared."

"The only other demon we know is the nine tailed Fox, known as Kyuubi. His size is enormous, and it's said a single tail can demolish a mountain. He is a fire elemental, and although it is only speculation, it is said he can control nine elements, even though we only know of five. As you all know those elements are: Lightning, Wind, Fire, Water, Earth. What other four elements he may be capable of we can only guess. He is the most powerful of them all. He could take out an entire ninja village by himself. Maybe even two."

Jiraiya took a break for a second before continuing. "All four hidden villages have been trying to get their hands on these demons in order to seal them in humans, so that they will control the power of these great beasts. But so far they have been to powerful to do anything to them. Anyone who goes near them dies. Although Suna is closest to getting the one tailed beast, last I heard they still haven't been able to get him. That's all we have on records at the moment. Ok, Yuki your turn. What question would you like to ask?"

Yuki paused, usually if she had a question she would ask her father. So what she was trying to think of was a question that Jiraiya would know and her father wouldn't. Failing that she thought of something funny to ask instead. "Sensei, have you ever had a girlfriend?" She said smiling ever so innocently.

Jiraiya started coughing like he had just inhaled a hairball. "I think that is irrelevant to this situation. **I GIVE YOU THE CHANCE OF A LIFETIME TO ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE, AND YOU WANT TO KNOW IF I'VE EVER HAD A GIRLFRIEND**!!! WHATS WRONG WITH YOU?! And if you must know then fine, I'm such a stud I can't hang around with one woman to long anyways."

Yuki snickered, then whispered to Akira who snickered too. "He can't stay with one woman long enough because he runs out of money and has to go back to work. I hear those women from brothels arn't cheap."

Unfortunately Jiraiya overheard them. So as revenge he said "Yuki, Akira. While I'm answering Tsubaki's question, you will be doing one handed pushups... in handstand position." This was accompanied by groans and pleading glances thrown Tsubaki's way. Unfortunately for them Tsubaki loved to have fun at their expense. True in battle he worked together with them flawlessly, but outside battle any time for watching them being punished was like a hobby to him.

So he tried to think up the question that would take the longest to answer. Suddenly he realized this was harder than he thought. Then he thought of something. He could really care less about the answer but he knew it would take forever before Jiraiya finished answering. With an evil smile he glanced at Yuki and Akira. "Jiraiya-sama, how did you become the greatest ladies man in the world?" Yuki and Akira groaned as they thought of ways to get revenge on the genjutsu loving psycho-path. They listened as Jiraiya explained how he had become such a lady killer, as he explained, and explained, and explained.

It was morning when they had entered the library. They left at closing time. Both Yuki and Akira were shaking from exhaustion. They had done so many pushups they had reached muscle failure hours ago. Normally it might not have been so bad, if not for Zal's "Birthday presents" to them.

_Flashback_

_Yuki and Akira had just finished eating their cake, and were waiting excitedly for the present Zal had promised them. He told them it would make them alot stronger. He took them down to the basement where his own "Library" was kept._

_He pulled a scroll from a shelf and had them sit down next to him on the floor. "I am going to place a Chakra inhibitor seal on both of you. This seal will shutoff a portion of your chakra making you weaker. You must be wondering how this will make you stronger. Normally people have a limit in their minds, which keeps them from advancing farther than a certain point. Some people through years of training push that limit further so they can become stronger. Some people manage to break that limit altogether. The people who do this last part are known as the masters of the Eight gates. For by doing this last part you manage to open the gates that normally limit you strength. Consider this seal a way for you to bypass that limit as well. Say your bodies max power is set to 100, with the limit in your mind. This seal shuts off 30 percent of your chakra, putting you down to 70 percent. Suddenly you can improve again. Then you reach your limit again. Adjust the seal and you get 20 percent more shut off. By the time you would have reached 100 percent the third time, you should have managed to change your limit in your mind. Suddenly instead of your limit being 100, it is 250. You keep doing this process and there is no limit to how powerful you can become. Now Akira since your body does not contain a demon, all you will ever need is one seal. Yuki however may need more than that as time goes on, since she has her own chakra, and the chakra of a demon inside her."_

_Yuki and Akira looked at each other, then Akira asked "Zal-sama, how many seals do you use for this?"_

_Zal raised an eyebrow "Do not measure your performance based on me, as you know the demon inside me is far more powerful than any human you will meet. But since you asked I use Eight seals. Each seal has a limit to how much chakra they contain, this is why more are required at times. Each seal can carry more chakra than even your average Hokage will attain in his whole lifetime. In maybe thirty more years I may need a ninth seal. Remember, Me and my demon are as one. So my chakra is far beyond that of a normal human. You will find that someone who has full access to a demons chakra instead of just some, can have as much as an army of humans. The nine-tailed fox, probably has more chakra than every single person in Konoha put together."_

_Zal then inscribed the seals on their backs and set them to 30 percent. "May you use these seals to become ten times stronger than you would without them."_

_End Flashback_

When they got home they slumped down on the couch to tired to even make it to their rooms. They heard Zal walk into the room. "Well, well. You two seem to be slightly worn out. Could it be that the seal is too much for you?"

They both suddenly started saying no they could handle it and alot of other things along those lines. There was no way they were gonna let him think they were too weak to do this. He smiled at them knowing full well they hah no intention of letting him take off the seals. Which was good because if they had said take them off, he would have increased the amount of chakra they would have shutoff.

Suddenly Yuki came up with an idea. "Dad, what do you know of the nine tailed beasts?" Zal looked questionly at her. So she explained. "Well today Jiraiya told us what konoha knows about them, but he only had vague information about them. and only on five of them. The tailed beasts five through eight he no info on, I was just wondering if you knew more. You know, based on the fact our clan deals in demons."

Zal went and sat down next to them, before he answered. "Yes I know alot about them. And frankly I don't have time to go over all of it with you. Back before the clan was destroyed, everyone your age learned about them in class. It takes literally a year to just go over the basics. But since you seem so interested in demons tonight how about I tell you something that humans don't know about. Some people speculate but only demons really know this. The origin of bloodline limits."

Yuki and Akira sat up straight for this. They had heard so many discussions in class back at the academy of how bloodlines came to be, but no one they had talked to actually knew for sure. And now Zal was telling them he knew. And Zal never lied to them. He had their full attention.

Zal smiled and began. "Every single bloodline in the world comes from demons. Demons love to experiment with things to see their reaction. Same thing goes for here. While the demons don't necessarily get to choose what it will do, what the bloodline limit does is based on the demon himself. I'm sure you're all familiar with the Byakugan. This bloodline came from an owl demon, a seer as a matter of fact. He claimed to be able to see anywhere in the world on whim. And while owls are not known for their offensive abilities normally, no predator has ever managed to lay one claw on him. Since he see's them coming from miles away. This is merely one example. Every single bloodline comes from a demon somewhere. These bloodlines are created when a demon mixes his chakra into that of a newborn baby. Originally people thought is was some sort of mutation when they saw these bloodlines. Later they began to think of it as evolution. The more powerful the demon that does this process, the more powerful the bloodline limit. One more thing, is that when a demon dies, whatever bloodline he created, dies with him. If the owl that created the Byakugan were to die, suddenly all the hyuuga's would have the normal eyes of a normal human. A few clans throughout history have found this fact out, and create shrines for their demon. A haven if it needs to escape from something."

Akira spoke up "Zal-sama, Ero-Sennin brought up something earlier. He said the nine tailed fox demon has control over nine elements. Well we only know of five, what are the other four?"

Zal replied "Well, well. I didn't think you would hear of this so soon. The other four elements would be: Light, the element of light is actually used by a cult of monks to the far north. This elements abilities range from healing allies, to battling minor demons. The ability to use this element is uncommon in humans, those that have mastered this element are often seen as spiritual beings. And become leaders in many religions."

"Shadow element, also uncommon to be used by humans. The shadow element is actually used here in Konoha by the Nara clan. It's abilities range from bondage and controlling its targets to that of conjuring up creations made completely of shadow."

"The eighth element is called life. Unlike the others mentioned before now this is one of the only elements that cannot be combined with another element, because the element of life is the combination of all seven other elements. Humans cannot use this element at all, unless demon blood courses through their veins, and even then most demons never gain more than the slightest abilities of this element. The abilities of this element cannot be measured. In theory anything is possible with this element."

"The final element is one that is banned from use. A demon who uses it becomes the target of every demon in existence. The only demons allowed to practice it are the nine tailed beasts. And the only two which are even capable of using it are eight and nine. And for that matter the nine tailed beast is the only one who has mastered it, the eight tailed beast hasn't even mastered it. The final element is called... Void. Void is literally the absence of all other elements. The void element is by far the most powerful, so powerful in fact that every jutsu used by it is a double edged sword. For those that do use it, the destruction of their enemies is far more important than even their own soul. Unlike the element life, Void can be used by humans. But only by humans who have entered into a contract with a demon. Even I do not know what is entailed in one of these contracts, as even the nine tailed beasts are forbidden to use them. Any demon that uses Void Jutsu's is immediately hunted down by all nine of the tailed beasts, and killed. Thats all for tonight."

Zal sighed as he leaned back, he had never been cut out for teaching as he saw it. But sometimes when you are the only one capable of teaching certain things you have no choice. "Alright kids, showers then go to bed. You two have alot of events that are coming up soon. You wouldn't want to be to tired to do them, you might get outdone by your teammate." That got them moving. They still had to plot revenge on Tsubaki, and it was hard to think of something good when your tired.

After they left Zal thought about earlier that day when Jiraiya stopped by. He had told Zal the chunnin exams were coming up, and he planned on entering Yuki and Akira along with Tsubaki in them. Zal of course was all for it. The stronger Yuki and Akira became the better. Zal didn't like that Tsubaki kid that much. He seemed kind of arrogant and self centered. Zal tried to think of what all he knew about the kid. He knew Tsubaki came from a family with a bloodline limit. A weaker one, not famous or anything. Their eyes became permanently red when they reached a certain age, and they could use most genjutsu without handsigns. Of course often times they didn't use that ability as it took up twice as much chakra to do that versus just doing the hand signs. Zal hoped he would be back in time to see the exams. He had another assassination mission coming up. And it was only two days before the exams. Oh well if he missed it then he missed it.

Zal got back to thinking about bloodlines. He had found out shortly after he got back to Konoha from his tourney that a clan that had the Sharingan lived here. The Bloodline Iku had started. Zal had to wonder if Iku had spies watching him here. What Zal hadn't told Akira and Yuki was that he had, had nine seals before. He released one of them in the tourny in order to beat Iku. The more seals he released the more he would look like the demon that they had seen in the tourney. One seal had made him look slightly demonic, if he released them all... Not a single person in the world would even think of him as human ever again. He hadn't put a nineth seal on yet to replace the one he removed earlier. And he had to use a genjutsu to hide the horns that were still in place. Some people might be able to tell he had a genjutsu on, but they couldn't tell what it was hiding. And they never would as far as he was concerned.

The Sharingan versus the Sealmasters Perfection. Which was a better bloodline? With a full clan at his back the Sealmasters Perfection would most likely be more potent. But with only Yuki at his back... as much as he hated to say it, the sharingan would probably win. He had learned of all it's other abilities after he had gotten back, and now he knew if he hadn't been blind. Iku probably would have won that battle. Maybe not in killing him, but now he thought about it he didn't think that had been Iku's intention that day. That day he had been trying to get Zal to show all his demonic power, and make him lose any chance of having a normal life anywhere except in solitude.

Well, it didn't matter as he had failed. For now he had better get some sleep, seems he slept alot more now than he used to. Good thing no one but Yuki and Akira ever saw him sleep, anyone else who saw him might give away that the fact in the last seven years he hadn't aged at all. Of course when awake he used genjutsu to make it appear as if he did age. When he slept, both that genjutsu and the one hiding his horns disappeared. Not something he wanted spread around the town. Especially since there were certain people who might cause trouble for him and Yuki if they found out where he was.

As he went to bed his last thoughts were the same they had been for the last eleven years, on his beloved wife. One day perhaps he would be reunited with her, that was the only true hope he had in life. The only goal that made him live each day. And the main reason why he continued to try and raise Yuki properly, he didn't think he could face his love if he left their daughter to fend for herself.

**AN: Hello again! I'm back with a vengeance, my computer is working again so I'm happy, although I probably will spend even less time writing this as i can play my online games again. But it won't be discontinued, I will continue to write this story till it's finished (Look for about forty chapters). Read and Review! I don't care if i know you personally and you can tell me face to face! Leave a review on here, it makes me feel better! And because I feel like it, SNEAK PEEK OF CHAPTER 12!!!**

Zal was meditating on the floor in the living room when Akira burst into the room. Blood was streaming down the side of his face and he held his side with one hand to stop the flow of blood that was seeping from a wound. "Z-z-zal-sama, Yuki is in trouble. We were out on a patrol mission when we were attacked, they got Yuki!"

Zal's eyes widened, "WHO GOT HER? TELL ME!" Zal yelled his voice bleeding fear. Akira's voice was faint when he answered, as loss of blood was taking its toll. "**The Demon Hunters**."


	12. Seven Demonhunters

**Seven Demonhunters**

**AN: Thanks to everyone who sent all those reviews, you guys made my day. And to everyone who has been reading and reviewing since I started to put this fic out, thanks again. Read and enjoy.**

The next day Yuki, Akira, Tsubaki, and Jiraiya met up at their training field. Jiraiya spoke up first. "Good morning kiddies, we have a mission today." Yuki appeared about to have an outburst when Jiraiya continued, interrupting her at the same time. "And no Yuki, its not what you think. It's not another 'Go fetch the Cat' mission. We are going on a border patrol, we don't have enough chunnin at the moment so I recommended You three."

Akira spoke up "So what are the chances of us encountering hostiles? Is it a routine patrol or is there a specific reason we are going?"

Jiraiya sighed, Akira always seemed to guess what was going on before he even told them. He took seeing underneath the underneath to a whole new level. "Yes Akira there is a reason. Recent reports say there have been some attacks from shinobi on outlying villages. Whether they are missing nin, or other villages we don't know. What we do know is that they must be stopped. They do seem to only be targeting certain people in each village, although we can't seem to see what pattern of target they are. Some of them people of great standing, others minor farmers. As I said we can't find a pattern of who it is they are targeting. Our job is not to fight these men, as they may very well be my level. Our duty is to find their pattern, find who they will target next and bring them to safety. And if possible we need to find their location too, so we may send an Anbu squad after them. Anbu don't have time to search high and low all over the country on targets that we don't even know their location. We find them, the Anbu kill them, simple as that."

There was a pause as the three gennin took the time to let it sink in. A mission where they might encounter multiple people on the same level as Jiraiya, who was already famed throughout the land as one of three legendary Sannin. This would be dangerous, were they ready for a mission this deadly? Suddenly one of them spoke up. "Hah ha ha ha. Well this should be fun then. When we enter the chunnin exams we can say we were the only team to go on a chunnin or maybe even jounin ranked mission! What are we waiting for? Lets go!"

The other three turned to look at Akira after his outburst. He normally wasn't the type to shout, or get really excited about anything short of learning something new. So they were all a little surprised at it, however in the aftermath of his outburst the whole team felt better. The tension that had begun to permeate the air was gone now. After they all got done laughing at him Jiraiya said "Ok, go get your things we leave in one hour, we will most likely be gone for a week. So make sure you have everything you will need. Meet at the gate at the appointed time."

They each went home to get packed. After they were all packed and ready they met as scheduled. They left without saying a word to each other, they all knew it was mission time. Time to get serous. Time to... GET ER' DON BABY!

Three days out in the mission they were no closer to finding out the pattern of these mystery attackers victims. They had met up with several of the families of those who had been targeted, and asked them about the victims. So far about the only similarities were that they all knew how to fight, and would have been considered at least chunnin level. Two of them would have easily made jounin level. So whoever these guys were that were attacking people, they were strong.

They had made camp outside a small village to rest at the end of the day. So far no one had seen these attackers, at least no one alive. The had just finished setting up their campfire when they heard someone approaching. They all went into hiding and prepared to attack if this person was unfriendly. But it turned out to only be a person from the village. When they were sure it was safe they came out of hiding and asked what he wanted.

"I've heard you four people are looking for the guys who have been killing people all over the country. I saw them, they are all dressed like monks, but they can fight like nothing I've ever seen. And I noticed that the leader took a gem from each person he killed, at least the people who he killed near here." Jiraiya thought about it for a moment.

Then Jiraiya asked "Was there anything to distinguish them from normal monks? Like odd clothing, or strange weapons? Perhaps a tattoo of some sort?"

The man thought about it for a moment before replying. "Actually now that you mention it I think on the top of their bald heads they each had a tattoo, although their tattoo's were all different. I think I've seen something like them before up north, a different language perhaps. And as far as weapons most of them just carried stave's, although one of them carried a greatsword, that had a cross etched into the blade. And while they did seem like holy men, no one who kills people for no reason is holy."

Jiraiya felt the happiest he had been since they had left. This was the first real info the had gotten since they started. If these men took gems from each person they killed then it made sense to look for people who had gems. Of course people don't just walk up to you and say 'Hi! I have a gem and I think I'm going to be a target, save me please!' So now they had a vague idea who to look for, it still wasn't enough. "Thanks for your information kind sir, we won't forget it."

The guy scratched the back of his head and laughed "Anything to help, by the way I've heard some rumors of some strangers camping out in a canyon not to far from here. It might be them, I suppose it's worth a shot." Jiraiya nodded and watched as the man left.

Now that he thought about it it just seemed too convenient, that after three days of no information, suddenly they get a boatload of it. It might be a trap. And if it was he would have to send the gennin back home for help. Akira was the fastest of the three by far, although Yuki had nearly double his stamina. He would have to take them when he investigated the valley.

It seemed kinda odd when he thought about it, the amount of chakra she had for someone her age wasn't just unusual, it was unheard of. Even with Akira going through the same training she was, she still had enormous amounts more than him. And Akira was no slacker, not by a long shot.

Back on topic of the people in the canyon, they would go tomorrow to investigate it. For now they would rest up, something told him they would need it.

The man walked back towards town, stopping on the way when a shadowy figure stepped into his path. "Did you tell them everything I told you?" The shadowy many asked.

"Everything, my guess is they will head your guy's way tomorrow. Now where's my money?" He replied. He didn't like getting involved with this business, to dangerous. But they had offered him a large sum of money and he needed it to buy a ring for his girl. Every anniversary she wanted more and more expensive stuff. Now the thing she wanted cost as much as he made in six months. So when offered the entire amount in a lump sum he agreed without hesitating. The shadowy figure handed him a sack of coins that jingled pleasantly. They parted ways without another word. One man happy as he now had the money for his girl, the other happy as his target was playing right into his hands.

The next morning the four konoha nins left for the canyon in question. Upon their arrival they inspected the camp covertly. It had three guards at some key points of entry but that was all, nothing heavy security wise. They obviously weren't to worried about someone attacking them. Of course if they were as skilled as rumors said then they most likely had nothing to worry about. However, Jiraiya wasn't completely sure these were the guys. while it was obvious that these men weren't here on friendly business, that didn't make them the ones they were looking for. And the mission of the konoha nins was to track down the men responsible for all the murders, not anyone else.

Yuki however seemed convinced that these men were the ones, and she looked ready to kick some ass. Akira was the one who kept having to tap her shoulder to keep her in line. They were here for information, not to assault them alone. Suddenly Jiraiya sensed something and pushed both Akira and Yuki to the ground, barely in time. Several knives came flying through the space of which their heads had occupied just seconds ago.

Unfortunately for Jiraiya, he managed to take one knife in his arm. It wasn't a bad wound though so he just pulled it out and got into a fighting stance. Four monks came out of the brush and took up fight stances of their own, one of them spoke out. "We have no quarrel with the rest of you, give us the girl and we will let you live. Resist and we will have no choice but to kill you as well." They wanted Yuki it was obvious, although for what reason Jiraiya could only guess.

So Jiraiya figured he might be able to find out what they based their targets on. So he said "Well, before I would even consider giving any of my students to you, may I ask why you want to kill her?"

What they said surprised all four of the konoha nins. "As you wish, while you may not know it, that girl is a demon. Either that or under demonic influence, if the latter is the case then a mere exorcism will suffice. We use an instrument that can track demonic chakra, and we detected her coming to us. Quite useful really. Normally we have to run all over the country to find demons, one coming to us makes it all that much faster. We will first preform an exorcism, if the demonic influence does not lift then we will kill her. I'm sure you do not believe that she is a demon, especially since she probably isn't acting any different from normal. When a demon posses someone they gain access to all that persons memories. So while she may not seem different on the outside, I assure you its all acting. We are the demon hunters, and we travel the country slaying demons."

Yuki and Akira were worried, both of them knew what the source of her demonic chakra was, and neither one of them wanted to give these monks a chance to expose it. The plan of not engaging them and sending someone back to konoha for reinforcements just went out the window. Both of them charged the monks with reckless abandon, determined to silence them at all costs. But the costs were high, and they wern't able to pay up. The monks easily avoided all their attacks. If it had been Akira and Yuki versus one monk they may have made some progress. But against four they couldn't so much as make them do more then laugh.

Jiraiya noticed they were telling the truth, in that they didn't try to hurt her yet. That they were going to attempt an "Exorcism" as they called it. He was almost tempted to see if they were correct in their accusations, but then he decided if she had been taken over by a demon he would be able to tell the difference. And Akira trusted her, and Akira knew her better then anyone but her father, maybe even better than him. And Jiraiya had learned to trust Akira's judgment by now. So he attacked as well. He could tell before he even engaged them it was a losing fight. He could take two of them by himself, and Akira and Yuki could take one. But that left one more to account for, and Jiraiya doubted he would just sit and wait his turn. Tsubaki's genjutsu were pretty good for his age, but nowhere near the level required to disrupt these guys.

So their only chance was holding out long enough to have Akira get help. The problem was that if he left, the teamwork he and Yuki had would be impossible as he would be gone. And the was no way Yuki could take one of them by herself. This was looking like it was going to be a bad day. Jiraiya bit his thumb and slammed his hand to the ground and shouted **"Summoning Jutsu!"** One of the more agile toads he knew sprung into view. This particular toad was known for his mastery of the martial arts, and Jiraiya knew his help would greatly improve their odds.

Then both Jiraiya and his toad friend rushed into close combat, to show these monks that they were not to be taken lightly. Jiraiya would have loved to summon the king toad Gambunta, but so far he didn't have quite enough chakra to do so unless he rested a week in advance. And then there was the fact the king toad had little to no respect for him. So summoning him would be a waste of chakra as he wouldn't even listen to him. The martial arts toad named Emulov, brought a staff of his own to bear down upon the monks. Each monk carried a staff of his own although the one who was obviously the leader carried a giant broadsword as well. Jiraiya engaged this one and another one who wielded a dark red staff with gems inset into it.

Yuki and Akira were fighting a monk with a white staff and gems inset into it as well. Emulov fought the final monk who carried a green staff. At first the fighting actually seemed fairly even, till the monk fighting Yuki and Akira decided it was time to get serious. He preformed several one handed seals before shouting a jutsu **"Light Style: Rending Purity"**. Upon the completion of his jutsu a white light enveloped the area causing everyone caught in the effect to be unable to see. When it passed Yuki lay on the ground in convulsions, screaming in pure agony. Akira rushed to her side and held a kunia at the ready to defend her at all costs. The same monk preformed more hand seals and shouted another jutsu. **Light Style: Purification of the Darkness.**

A beam of light shot from his hand piercing through Akira and into Yuki. The light ripped a hole in Akira's side causing blood to rush out. However it had a completely different effect on Yuki. Her chakra seemed to become crippled and distorted, as if a flowing river had a mountain dropped in the middle of it. To those watching it looked like her eyes were glazing over, but what actually was happening was much different. The monk with the white staff jumped in close to Yuki and grabbed her by the throat.

Jiraiya yelled to Akira "Go now, we need backup. If we don't get help soon there is no way we will win." Akira nodded and bended over to take Yuki with him, but was stopped by Jiraiya. "No, you can't take her with you. This may be hard to accept, but if she goes with you they will follow. And you won't be able to get any help for us." Akira obviously wanted to argue, but as always with him logic took over. By taking her with him he would doom them all anyways.

Not even taking the time to bind his wound he took off towards konoha. At his maximum speed he should be able to make it in a few hours, but then he wouldn't wake up again for two weeks, if at all. But it had to be done, so without delay he used the body flicker to move at tremendous speeds for much longer than he had ever done before. After all, his entire teams lives counted on it.

Once Akira had left things began to get interesting. And Jiraiya began to question whether these monks may have been right about Yuki. The beam of light had managed to hit the seal that kept the human and the demon Yuki's chakra from mixing at a high rate. This way they had constant merging of chakra, but at safe levels. When the beam of light hit the seal, it completely erased the limits that kept the demonic chakra in check. Yuki Kicked out of the monks grasp, and was back on her feet again, but her body seemed to have undergone quite a few changes. Before Jiraiya had a chance to really notice what they were she put her hands together in a hand seal and shouted in a voice that sent chills down Jiraiya's spine. **Sealmasters Secrets: Transformation of the Dragon!** Many of the changes that happened when she used transformation of the lizard happened here as well. But there were some key differences. One, she had wings now. Two She wasn't a human size lizard like before. Now she was three times the size of a horse, perhaps small for a regular dragon. But that made her tower over the other people there.

With a roar she charged the monk with the white staff... and ripped him in half. Turning her head she blew several fireballs at the remaining monks, and followed up with a sweep of her bladed tail. Two of the monks managed to avoid both the fireballs and her tail, the third was not so lucky. He avoided the fireballs, but managed to look up just in time to see a giant tail slice him in two. The other two monks got a little nervous and called out to the camp below. And immediately got reinforced by twenty more monks.

Jiraiya decided now was not the time to question Yuki's race, and figured it was more likely he needed to find a way to keep off these monks. Yuki had just become a massive powerhouse, and was showing these monks she was not to be toyed with. But twenty two monks was more than even she would be able to handle. But if nothing else she should be able to buy them some time to get more reinforcements. So Jiraiya joined her as they all attacked in mass. Several times Jiraiya was nearly dealt a fatal blow, but every time they would miss barely. At first Jiraiya was surprised, then he realized that Tsubaki must be hard at work, slipping minor genjutsu in place and removing them seconds later before any of the monks realized what was going on. The monks must think he had super fast reflexes, which while he did, not as fast as it must appear.

But even with Tsubaki's help Jiraiya was unable to take any of them down, as they kept his on the defensive. It was the same for Yuki, as every time she sent one monk flying another one attacked her from behind. Jiraiya could only pray that Akira got at the very least ten Anbu, they would need them all.

Zalagrim Ukriz had just gotten back from a mission. He had a foreboding feeling although what about he was unsure. Yuki was to far away for him to even read her emotions, or even do more than tell she was alive really. He tried to pour himself a glass of sake but dropped it, as his hands were trembling to much. He decided to go meditate, to calm his nerves. Also when meditating he had a larger radius of being able to feel Yuki. Suddenly the feeling got ten times worse as he felt a chakra that he shouldn't be able to feel for at least five more years. The chakra of Demon Yuki was reaching to him through the bond. Something was wrong, there was no way the seal had broken, Demon Yuki maintained it herself. And no amount of stress would break it, so why was he able to feel that chakra? He had to meditate farther to see if he could find out what went wrong.

Zal was meditating on the floor in the living room when Akira burst into the room. Blood was streaming down the side of his face and he held his side with one hand to stop the flow of blood that was seeping from a wound. "Z-z-zal-sama, Yuki is in trouble. We were out on a patrol mission when we were attacked, they got Yuki!"

Zal's eyes widened, "WHO GOT HER? TELL ME!" Zal yelled his voice bleeding fear. Akira's voice was faint when he answered, as loss of blood was taking its toll. "**The Demon Hunters**."

Zal's eyes got even wider as he realized what must have happened. They must have forced the seal to break. Zal rush Akira to the hospital and rushed off again before even talking to the nurse. The nurse was surprised to find a injured genin lying on the floor when ten seconds ago the lobby had been empty. She called for the doctors and rushed to his side to check his breathing. It was very faint, and chakra exhaustion must have taken a heavy toll on the young one. They got him to critical care as fast as possible hoping that it wasn't to late.

Zal followed the trail of chakra that had been left behind in Akira's hurry. Akira must really have been going all out, as the amount of chakra suggested long term use of the body flicker. Zal knew he would have to work fast, if the demon hunters found Yuki she would lose. And fast, as they had jutsu's that were incredibly potent on demons. So removed the genjutsu hiding his horns, and stopped masking his demonic chakra. Hoping they would sense him coming and consider him a more important target.

There is seven Demon Hunters total, although there are hundreds of followers. Only seven of them actually have the rank demon hunter. The followers are strong for humans as well, but no more so than your typical ninja's. As long as he only had to face one actual demon hunter things wouldn't be to difficult. But he had to hurry, with the seal disrupted Yuki's body would begin to decay from the amount of pure chakra that was running through it. He only hoped he would make it in time before the strain caused permanent damage... or killed her.

Back in the canyon Jiraiya was getting very stressed. That kunai that he had intercepted earlier had a paralyzing poison, and it was starting to take effect. He was beginning to wish Tsunade and Orochimaru were here. With the three of them together killing these dammed monks would be childs play. But Orochimaru was busy training to become the next Hokage, and Tsunade was probably gambling again. To busy to help little old him out. Damn this sucked. Suddenly all the monks stopped attacking and looked into the distance, as if sensing something far off. Jiraiya reached out his senses too, and then noticed what they must be sensing. A massive chakra was approaching, and at a speed that made Akira seem slower than a turtle. Jiraiya was debating on the sense of staying and fighting these guys, or doing what every instinct in his body was screaming at him to do. Which was run in the opposite direction of whatever this creature was, faster than he ever had run before.

Suddenly the monk with the broadsword preformed some handseals and shouted **Light Style: Holy Chains of The Hereafter!** Yuki became pinned to the ground by chains that were made out of light. Jiraiya jumped forwards and attempted to cut them with his kunia. His kunia passed through them as if they weren't even there. The monks were completely ignoring him by now, and seemed to be arguing over something. The head monk was arguing with someone who seemed to be his right hand man.

"I say leave her be for now and kill the demon coming towards us. The demon detector still isn't sure if she is a demon or just under one's control. My guess is the demon coming towards us is the puppet master, and she is an innocent." The leader was against the idea of leaving her though.

"But if she is a demon then leaving her be might let her get out of our hands, this other demon might simply be a distraction. I say kill her now, and if it turns out she was innocent, then we simply pay the family some ryo and apologize." This Argument continued for a time but then they agreed that she could live till they killed the other demon. Leaving two men to guard Yuki the others left in the direction of the demon that was approaching.

The two men stood in a position that told Jiraiya they would kill her if he made even the slightest move towards her. Not very encouraging to say the least. And Yuki was helpless even in her powerful form. Those chains seemed to be unbreakable. And without Jiraiya being able to damage them, trying to free Yuki would be pointless anyways. So Jiraiya decided to watch the fight between the other monks and whatever "Demon" it was they were going to fight. His arm was completely paralized by now, so trying to interfere would be a bad idea.

The Demon Hunter known as Gaiden, was uneasy about the chakra he felt. He had never taken on a demon this powerful without at least two of the other seven with him. Of course he continued on, because with the title as the weakest of the demon hunters he felt the need to show them all. Show them that he was better than they gave him credit for. He was unsure of what demon he would be fighting, although if the demonchild they had just fought, was any indication, then this one was probably a dragon.

He tried to think of all the information he knew of dragons, and what their weaknesses were. Dragons had an unreal amount of chakra, but one of their weaknesses was that their chakra regeneration was much lower than some of the other more powerful demons. While their chakra capacity is nearly double virtually all their competition, their regen rate is only about thirty percent of the same demons that they are compared to before. They also had a low reproduction rate. Most dragons never have more than one child, sometimes two. Three was nearly unheard of, although four had never happened in all their history. And they almost never took a second mate. Unfortunately in battle none of those things would give Gaiden any advantage for now. The hide of a dragon can turn most jutsu's and weapons, the only jutsu's that can always get through would be light. But even those are weakened to a degree. Man he hated fighting dragons.

Then he remembered something he had been told a long time ago. _"Dragons are all fire element, and one additional element as well. Find out their second element and beating them will be a piece of cake... well compared to trying to beat them normally."_ All he had to do was find this dragon's element and then exploit it. Simple to say at the least. Actions may be a different story.

Zal continued towards the monks. Putting his hands together as he ran he preformed some hand seals. **Sealmasters Secrets: Transformation of the Dragon!** Now anyone who had seen Yuki transform would say that she had become a formidable size, but Zal showed what someone who had mastered the jutsu could look like. He became a crimson dragon of enormous size. His current size was over five times that of Yuki in her dragon form. "A little small perhaps, but it will do for this battle. I don't want to completely destroy the forest, so this size should be good. He was concentrating so deeply on the upcoming fight that he didn't even notice the monstrous chakra that was coming from a far off land.

Onaga the guardian dragon of a small village in the north had been called to aid a ninja village that was under siege by the legendary Shukaku. His green scales shimmered in the sunlight as he flew towards the village in question. He tried to remember the name of the village. Those human villages always confused him, at least when it came to names. The humans themselves weren't much better, and to make things worse they all looked alike. He had no clue how his father seemed to be able to tell them apart so easily. Perhaps because he had been alive about five thousand years longer than Onaga. Must be a trick to it or something. Oh thats right the villages name was Suna.

Onaga arrived at the Kazikage's office and landed on the roof, to find the Kazikage and his personal guard waiting for him there. Onaga didn't like the smell of the man, he seemed shifty. But he had promised to help nonetheless.

"Ah you've arrived. The Shukaku has been terrorizing the village these last few days. Each day has been getting worse. We fear today will be the worst yet. I'm not sure the village will ever fully recover if he cannot be stopped. Your help would be greatly appreciated. We don't expect you to be able to win of course, simply hold him off till our preparations are complete. We have a plan to subdue him. But we need your help."

Onage thought back of what he knew of Shukaku. He knew that his father and him used to hunt together and fight side by side in battles. Both of them loved to do one thing more than anything else. And that was crush their opponents with brute force. Shukaku wasn't someone Onaga would be able to defeat.

Onaga wondered offhand what their plan to "Subdue" the legendary Shukaku would be. Not that he really cared. He would fight till he was exhausted, if they weren't ready by then... Then he would leave, and it would be their problem. He had no intention of letting Shukaku kill him, if that happened he would have to start all over again. He had nearly mastered the seventh seal, starting at square one was not an option. "Alright I'll help you. But if your not finished with your plan by the time I run out of energy I'm going to leave." He then placed a green seal on the floor. "When this seal turns red it means I'm out of energy. Then I will leave. You had better be ready before then." Without another word he took to the skies.

He could see the Shukaku in the distance approaching. And he could feel the bloodlust radiating off him from there. "Must be his bloodmoon soon. So he's getting near a highly populated area for his feeding frenzy. One day, maybe two tops before he goes all out." He snickered to himself. Well if he didn't stop Shukaku this entire village would be gone in a few days. Funny because it really didn't matter to him one way or another.

Deciding on the advantage of surprise he attacked first, sending an enormous fireball rocketing towards the giant wind spirit. Shukaku even through his bloodlust detected the surge of chakra and brought up a wall of sand to block the attack. Now Shukaku is one of the legendary tail beasts, and Onaga was not. But Onaga is also the son of the eight tailed beast making him a formidable foe no matter what. So the two of them began to engage in deadly combat each trying to outdo the other. Shukaku thought that Onaga was trying to take the village for himself, sort of stealing his meal. Not something that made him happy.

While they were busy with combat a circle of nine ninja's gathering their chakra for the upcoming sealing. Normally sealing a tailed beast is nearly impossible, but with him weakened from a fight with another powerful demon they stood a chance. After which they would seal him into one of their greatest warriors, and have a weapon to be feared. They would become the most powerful ninja village, and business would soar. The seal on the roof began to turn red. Now was their chance, they chanted their sealing jutsu and aimed it at the giant Shukaku.

Onaga was struggling, his chakra supply was running low. And he had yet to see this "Plan" of theirs come forth. Shukaku seemed to have limitless chakra, and his bloodlust only seemed to increase his power. He had managed to weaken him slightly, although it didn't seem like much. Suddenly he felt a enormous chakra hurtling towards them. He didn't have the strength to fly upwards, so he plunged downwards to escape the jutsu that was heading their way. He barely dodged it.

The jutsu enveloped Shukaku in a burst of energy. Shukaku roared in anger as he felt himself being ripped out of his own body. A container had be prepared, a water pitcher. The almighty Shukaku, one of the legendary tailed beasts had been sealed into a mere water container. Onaga chuckled at how enraged Shukaku would be. Well, it was time to go home he supposed. He took again to the skies before he noticed the Kazikage signaling him form the rooftop again. He flew down and landed wearily upon the roof, his wings drooping with fatigue.

"Thankyou Onaga, your aid has rid us of the demon Shukaku. Now our village can sleep in peace at night. We have something for you. Please follow me." The Kazikage and his eight followers went down into a giant room that was covered in inscriptions. Onaga was barely paying attention to his surroundings when a seal on the wall caught his eye. A seal he had seen in the library of the sealmasters. A seal to trap a demon in an inanimate object! And the only demon in the area was him! He suddenly realized they must have finished their preparations for their jutsu much sooner, they had simply waited so he would be weak and easy to capture. They had caught Shukaku offguard, not so with Onaga. True he was weaker than Shukaku, but being able to put up a defence, greatly improved your odds of evading the jutsu's full effect. Onaga wrapped his wings around himself and channeled all his remaining chakra into them as well, forming a barrier around himself. Just before they activated their jutsu.

The result trapped him in the room, sealing his chakra to the room. Although he was not sealed in the object they had chosen for him, he was still unable to do anything. The seals became chains that shut off all his access to his chakra. He became a prisoner in the room that was underground. The nine men were angry that he thwarted their attempt to seal him in an object. However they decided that they would settle for this, and since they were extremely tired they left for their rooms. Onaga was to tired to do anything at the moment. He laid down on the floor and let sleep overtake him. Later he would roar and rage against these traitors. For now he would regain his strength.

Zal's transformation was completed seconds before he came face to face with the monks. They stopped short when they saw him. His chakra alone was huge, but his size made them think twice. This was no weakling. A dragon with crimson scales... Gaiden only knew of one dragon with that particular hue of scales. Neo Bahamut, Emperor of Dragons. But Neo Bahamut was five times the size of this one. It was said his size rivaled that of Kyuubi, who's tails would destroy mountains. So if this was not Neo Bahamut, then who? His offspring perhaps?

The monks formed a giant circle around Zal chanting their jutsu's preparing to slay yet another demon. **Light Style: Wraith of Kami!** A Sigil appeared above Zal and began to descend. He could feel it burning his scales as it got closer. Snarling he made use of the element that he was known for, the element known to be used by the eight tailed beast. Roaring mini-dragons rose up out of each monks shadow and attacked them. The monks were taken by surprise and abandoned their attack to defend themselves. Seven were unable to avoid them fast enough and died instantly. The remaining monks spread out so as not to be all targeted at the same time. A mere blast of light element shattered the shadowdragons as if they never existed. They began smaller jutsu's that didn't take as long to use, so as not to become sitting ducks as they had the first time.

Zal showed to them the reason why dragons were feared. His flying was suburb, and his accuracy with his fireballs was uncanny. His tail cutting giant swaths into the tree's that they were using as cover. Zal had taken out all but six of them when suddenly he felt a surge of chakra come from below him. Looking down he saw the leader finish inscribing a seal into the ground. A blast of light shot up right into his unprotected belly sending him hurtling towards some not to distant tree's. After he landed he managed to get to his feet again, but he was getting triple vision. Double vision was usually a bad sign, triple definitely wasn't any better. Of course he didn't think triple was possible for those who aren't blind. It was his hearing that had gotten jarred. Shaking his head he brought his wing up just in time to block another jutsu. While the skin on their wings are thinner, the wings of a dragon are the most resistant part on their body. At least versus jutsu's, when against physical attacks then their scales do a much better job.

He needed time to clear his head, but time was not something he had. With his view so distorted trying to fly would be a bad idea. He could barely tell up from down. Then he heard something. He detected a jutsu being used, and it wasn't from one of the monks. Jiraiya was back in action.

When digging in his medical bag he found one of Tsunade's paralysis antidotes. After it took full effect, he made quick work of the guards who were watching Yuki. He guessed that this so called dragon was Zal, and that he had used the same jutsu as Yuki. So Jiraiya decided to help out. Jiraiya summoned a large toad. A very large toad, this toad was known as the king toad. Jiraiya knew he wouldn't obey him, but a simply show of power was all he figured they would need. These demonhunters weren't stupid. Against Zal they had been having problems, if this giant toad joined hi then they didn't stand a chance.

So decided to make a tactical decision, they retreated... at a very fast pace. The king toads name was Gamabunta. And he was none to happy about being there at the moment. He was so huge that he was at least three times the size of Zal. Zal still wasn't able to tell what was going on. He managed to sense that the monks had left, and that a large presence was near by.

Gamabunta was just about to chew Jiraiya's ass when he notice who he was next to. "Well, well. If it isn't Neo Bahamut. You look a little small today, usually when I see you I have to look up. Feeling a little under the weather?" He said it in words that almost seemed like he was making fun of him, but his tone held only the highest respect. Gamabunta had seen the tailed beasts in actions before. He would hesitate to take on the one tailed beast, all the sake in the world couldn't convince him to fight one of the beasts who had more than three tails. Although at the moment he couldn't help but notice that he could probably take him at the moment.

Zal nodded slightly as he recognized the voice. Then he released the jutsu and reverted back to his human form. Gamabunta was shocked to say the least. He didn't think the eight tailed beast had been sealed within a human. No wonder he seemed weak. Zal called for Jiraiya. "Jiraiya, I need you to lead me to Yuki. They used some jutsu on me that disorientated me. If I don't get to her soon, she will die."

Jiraiya didn't know why she would die, but he knew better than to question a man who wanted to see his daughter. Supporting Zal on his shoulder he helped him over to where Yuki was. Gamabunta decided to take his leave, he would punish Jiraiya later.

Zal and Jiraiya arrived at where Yuki was to find her jutsu wavering, and her trembling in pain. Her breathing was haggard, was shallow. Zal could tell demon Yuki was having trouble maintaining it for so long, with having only used it once. Zal knelt down next to Yuki and placed his hand on her stomach. He reinscribed the part of the seal that had been damaged. Then activating his bloodline he bled off her excess chakra, lessening the damage that was being done to her body. Slowly the pain decreased and she was able to breath easily again. After a short time had passed she canceled the jutsu, reverting back to human form.

She looked at him and smiled before passing out. By now Zal had regained his barings, and could "See" properly again. Picking Yuki up in his arms he informed Jiraiya he was taking her back to Konoha, with or without Jiraiya's permission. Jiraiya agreed it would be a good idea to head back. Tsubaki appeared next to Jiraiya and slowly followed as they headed back.

As Zal slowly carried his daughter back he got a very bad feeling. He was unsure of what it was, but whatever it was it felt like a world changing event. Something was very wrong, but he ignored it. His only concern at the moment was his daughter, and making sure she made it home safely. At the moment, nothing in the world took precedence over her.

Gaiden followed stealthily, making sure not to draw attention. The girl was obviously not possessed, and therefore must be a demon as well. The elder demon showed to much concern for her to be a mere puppet, perhaps she was his mate? He knew demons appearances were deceiving. The apparent age of a demon could throw you off by years. One could look like a child and be thousands of years old. Or it could look like an old man, and be merely two hundred years old. The more powerful the demon the slower it aged. Gaiden assumed she was his mate, that was the only thing he could think of that would make a demon show affection for another.

All he needed to do now was follow them to wherever they came from. a simple matter considering that they didn't know he was there. He smiled to himself. True he hadn't managed to kill the demon, but if he called on one of his seven brothers he was sure it would be a simple task. A powerful demon true, but no match for two demonhunters.

He continued to follow them till he noticed something. The man who had called himself Jiraiya, was a shadowclone! He felt a kunai tip press against his throat, and heard the unmistakable voice the man they had fought before. "You were foolish to follow us. When I was paralized I was unable to do much against your large numbers. Now I am no longer poisoned, and you no longer outnumber me. I will take you back to my village where you will be questioned. Resist... and I will kill you without hesitation."

Gaiden shuddered. This man Jiraiya seemed perfectly calm, yet the killing intent raidiating from him was so overwhelming that Gaiden nearly soiled himself. Gaiden was not someone you would call a coward, but for the first time in his life he knew what fear truely was. Not a twinge knowing you were in possible danger, but an absolute certainty that you would die if you didn't cooperate.

But Gaiden also knew that under no circumstances could he surrender. While it is true that most demonhunters jutsu are designed to fight demons, they are skilled combatants as well. Gaiden calmed his mind and prepared for a jutsu he had used only once before in his life. This jutsu would cause him to be the butt of many jokes from his brothers for years to come. But he would be alive for them to make those jokes. He put his hands together in a seal and shouted **Earth Style: Cactus Shower jutsu**.

Jiraiya's eye's widened as he remembered seeing that jutsu a few years back. It made a real mess of all the people around the user. Once the jutsu was activated, even killing the user wouldn't cause it to stop till it's time was up. In a rush Jiraiya jumped back and used a jutsu of his own. **Earth Style: Earth barrier jutsu**. Jiraiya was covered by a layer of dirt, and waited for the attack to impact his barrier. But it never came, suddenly he realized that it had just been a ruse to get Jiraiya to go on the defensive, so the monk could get away.

Jiraiya was irritated, but he knew the monk was actually gone this time, so he headed back to the group. He had to report everything that had happened to the Hokage. The chunnin exams were soon as well. He only hoped Yuki was fully recovered by then, she seemed to be pretty beat up for some reason.

The Kazikage smiled to himself. Suna was now in possession of two demons. Once they managed to seal them within some of their more powerful ninja's Suna would become the most powerful ninja village in existence. His messenger had already informed the village the dragon had come from that Onaga had fallen in battle, but managed to defeat the legendary tailed beast Shukaku. That should satisfy them for now. Now to check on his son. His son would succeed him as Kazikage soon. And he was even more ruthless than himself. When the war came, Suna would overwhelm Konoha, and his revenge on Sarutobi would be complete. Everything was in order. Time to sit back and watch as his life's work began to take a life of it's own.

**Jutsu List**

**Earth Style: Earth barrier jutsu**

This jutsu is chunnin level.

This jutsu creates a barrier of dirt that is only about one inch thick around the user, The higher the skills of the user the more damage it can take. It is said masters can have their barrier covered completely covered in explosive tags, and when they are finished they barrier won't even be damaged.

**Earth Style: Cactus Shower jutsu**

This jutsu is Anbu level.

This jutsu sends splinters imbued with the users chakra, in all directions. The total amount would be one thousand "Needles" in all directions. The needles are said to be able to penetrate solid steel.

**Light Style: Wraith of Kami**

This jutsu is Anbu level.

This jutsu requires several people to use it at the same time in order to work. When used properly their chakra fuses into one giant seal above their target. The seal moves at a slow speed but once it makes contact it burns whatever demon is targeted down to its very soul. When done correctly even weaker humans can take out some of the most powerful demons in the world.

**Light Style: Holy Chains of The Hereafter**

This jutsu is chunnin level.

This jutsu sends chains made of light to bind demons. The jutsu's chains are completely indestructible to all elements but void. The only way to break them is to kill the user or make him release the jutsu. Unless you can use void, in which case a mere attack jutsu of void element will shatter them easily.

**Light Style: Purification of the Darkness**

This jutsu is chunnin level.

This jutsu sends a beam of light from the users hand into the target. This jutsu can completely shatter a demons hold on a possessed person. If this jutsu hits a human it can rip a hole in their body like a laser through tissue.

**Light Style: Rending Purity**

This jutsu is jounin level.

This jutsu sends out a massive shockwave that activates every pain nerve in a demons body. It also disrupts their chakra system making them unable to do anything for a short time. This jutsu has no effect on humans.

**AN: Hello and welcome back! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I kept putting off writing it till I just kicked myself in the pants and said "Screw this, no more video games till I finish it!" And Ta-Da! Anyways read and review, lemme know what you think. I have so many plot twists planned it would blow your minds to know them all, ooohhh this is fun. Also my new homepage will be for my non-fanfiction stories. I have a few one-shots I'll post on there. Read if you want! Also he is a preview of chapter 13. Bye till next time.**

Akira was exstatic. He had been secretly practicing a new jutsu, not even Yuki knew about it. It still wasn't perfect but he was sure it was going to make a bang when he introduced it to the judges, he had already destroyed a massive tree with his imperfect version. The thought of what it might be able to do when he finished it was mind boggling. He hadn't thought of a good name for it yet, but he was working on it. But the best part about his new jutsu, the secret thing that only the person who was inventing it would know was...


	13. The Chunnin Exams

**AN: Hello again! I'm back, and hopefully as good as ever. And wow, I just read chapter 267 and wow! He he he I got Yuki's personality and hair color down before Kishi even said anything. Maybe he stole it from me 0.o. I think you should enjoy this chapter, you might even get a BANG out of it. To all the reviews last time thanks. To those who read without reviewing... I feel used and thrown away like a soda can. XD Read and review. Enjoy.**

**The Chunnin Exams**

Akira had recovered in record time thanks to a medic-nin called Tsunade. Two days and he was up and about again. Yuki who normally recovered two to three times as fast as Akira was still out cold. Most injuries for her healed in just one nights sleep. For her to have not even woken up in two days was a bad sign. However Akira was determined not to waste time. He had heard from Tsubaki what she had done after he left, and it made him feel like he was falling behind her. He had asked Zal about summoning.

_Flashback_

_"Zal-Sama, I was wondering if you could teach me to summon?" Akira was hopeful. With a summon of his own he could easily keep up with Yuki._

_Zal shook his head. "Akira, summoning isn't just about knowledge of a jutsu. You must sign a scroll in blood, and then be accepted by the creatures you make a contract with. As far as summoning, I would suggest you talk to your teacher. He is after all the legendary toad sage."_

_Akira was surprised "You mean I can't just sign your scroll and be able to summon dragons?"_

_Zal shook his head again. "I'm sorry Akira but Yuki is going to sign my scroll. Dragons are very picky, they won't accept a summoner who does not have dragon blood coursing through their veins. Besides would you want the same summon as Yuki?"_

_Akira thought about it before shaking his head. He wanted to be his own man. If he had the same summon as Yuki he wouldn't be able to stay ahead since their summons would be the same. He decided he would talk to __Jiraiya__ about it. He supposed toads would be cool too._

_End flashback_

Akira searched high and low for the hermit, but couldn't find him anywhere. Finally he decided to go on his own and practice his new jutsu.

About one year ago he read some scrolls that taught about elemental manipulation. It taught about ways to combine typical jutsu's and elements. Doing so you could create unpredictable reactions. It actually seemed pretty simple on paper. Once he actually tried it he discovered just how wrong he was.

Akira was unused to failing at anything. So he took it as a major blow when he didn't get it right away. But being stubborn as he was he tried again. Eventually he discovered he was much better at wind manipulation than any other element. So he began to focus on this more than the others. He began to be able to spin the wind at high speeds in circles around his palm.

It was fun but wasn't really accomplishing anything. Eventually he decided to give up on trying to make it do anything for now, and focused more on being able to speed it up even faster. Perhaps he would be able to throw wind shurikens or or something of the sort. For nearly a year he had been getting more and more proficient at controlling wind element. Now it took almost no effort to create a whirling vortex around his palm. But he had hoped that he would have it be capable of doing at least something by the chunnin exams. Now they were in a few days, and he still hadn't figured out a way to use it for anything.

Yuki had just gotten out of the hospital. The doctors were amazed. One minute she was out cold, the next minute she was up and walking about. She was still looking drained, but there was no way this side of hell they were keeping her in a hospital a second longer than necessary. The instant they turned their heads to call for more doctors so they could "Assist" her back to her bed, she was gone.

She went off to look for Akira. Just to see how he was. He was probably still mad because he had to leave in the middle of their fight. But he had saved their lives by doing it. Searching around she found Akira at training area seven, rushing towards a tree with a blue pulsating mass of chakra. She watched to see it blow the tree into shreds. The explosion was so huge he was knocked flying, and he landed at her feet.

She was about to ask if he was ok, when she noticed tears running down his cheeks. He looked into her eyes and whispered "Who am I?"

Her eyes widened in horror, the explosion had given him amnesia!

_Flashback_

_Anyone who knew him, and could see him now would have been shocked. He was beating a nearby tree to a pulp, to relieve his frustration. The reason why they would have been surprised is because Akira never got frustrated._

_In the middle of him giving the tree what it deserved just for being around when he was as angry as this he heard a voice. "Well, well. This just won't do. I can't have it be known that my prize student enjoys beating the crap out of defenseless shrubbery. People would begin to think he was a bully."_

_Akira turned around to discover Jiraiya crouched on a rock behind him. Sometimes it almost unnerved Akira how someone like Jiraiya could seem like such a pushover, and other times he could sneak up on you with no effort at all. No matter how lame the toad sage seemed sometimes, his skills were not to be questioned._

_Akira stopped his abuse of the poor tree to ask him. " Ero-Sannin, I've been looking all over for you. I wanted to ask you a question. Would it be possible to teach me how to summon toads?"_

_ Jiraiya was surprised, based on the fact he had been planning on asking Akira if he wanted to learn to summon toads. He decided not to waste any time and pulled out his scroll. "Of course. And since you asked so nicely I'll tell you a secret. This scroll is very sought after. Very few get this privilege. Don't take this for granted."_

_Akira nodded happy for the first time that day. It was finally his turn to shine. Jiraiya showed him how to inscribe his name on the scroll. Akira bit his finger and signed his name in blood. Akira Tsikyn. Then watched in horror as his name faded into non-existence._

_Akira shouted in anguish "Whats going on?" He may not have known exactly what was supposed to happen, but he knew that wasn't it._

_ Jiraiya replied "Well I've heard of this happening, but I've never actually seen it. This happens when someone signs a name on the scroll, but the name they signed was not theirs. In other words, the name Akira Tsikyn is not your real name."_

_Akira reeled back in shock. His entire life he had been known as Akira, and now he was hearing that that name was not real. Jiraiya continued "I will do my best to find out anything about your past that is hidden. You have my word." With that Jiraiya headed off to fulfill his promise._

_Akira returned to turning the nearby shrubbery into woodchips. His anger just kept building. It was even worse than before. He felt like he was just filling with pressure, and would just keep filling until he exploded. Then it came to him. A crazy idea, but one that just might work!_

_He began building his wind chakra again. This time building it into a ball, poring all his frustration and rage into this mass of swirling wind. Finally it reached such a high speed that he was sure it would explode if it made impact with anything. Looking around he saw one of the tree's he had been beating up earlier. Rushing towards it he smashed the convulsing mass of wind into the tree trunk. He held his breath on impact hoping something would happen, anything. And it did._

_The explosion blew him off his feet. It worked, but he still felt so empty. He should be happier that he had finally created something, but he still heard those words over and over again. "The name Akira Tsikyn is not your real name."_

_He looked up and noticed Yuki standing there. His eyes felt watery for the first time in years, he whispered "Who am I?"_

_End Flashback_

Yuki kneeled down and propped him up. Then she said to him "Your name is Akira Tsikyn, my name is Yuki Ukriz. We're in a town called Konoha, you live with me and my fath..." She was interrupted by him laughing.

"Yuki, I haven't forgotten you. Or anything else. I just found out a few minutes ago that my real name is not Akira Tsikyn. And I can't sign a summoning scroll until I know my real name." His mood had improved a little over what had just happened. Yuki always had a way of taking stress out of the air. It was a knack he hadn't quite mastered yet. He was the one who always had a smile on his face, yet she was the reason for that over half the time.

He got up when it hit him, he had actually created a new jutsu! The incredulity of it was still dawning on him when Yuki spoke. "What jutsu was that? I've never seen you use it before. Looks pretty powerful too."

He realized he had no name for it, and thought carefully, finally at a loss he said. "I dunno really. I just created it, and I haven't thought of a name for it yet. Maybe... AIR BOMB!"

Her eyes started calling him an idiot, when he decided maybe he would sleep on it. Couldn't hurt to think on it for a day or two. So they headed back towards the house throwing names back and forth at eachother to see if one sounded cool enough for the "AIR BOMB". For the first time that day Akira felt just as completely relaxed as back when they used to play in the sandbox as five year olds.

Jiraiya kept tearing through scrolls in the birth record section of the library. Around most kids he felt like he was talking to infants, and that no amount of explaining would make them understand a word of what he said. But with Akira it almost felt like talking to an equal. And they were years apart. Now he had a chance to ensure that Akira would follow in his footsteps.

Akira was going to become famous someday. Jiraiya could tell about this sort of thing. And when people looked at Akira, Jiraiya wanted them to say "Oh! Thats the student of the legendary Toad Sannin. One of the greatest men that ever walked the earth." And of course with Jiraiya, being great was associated with being very studly. Women would come flocking then. And he could retire with a small amount of women always at his beck and call, only about thirty or forty. That should cover most of his needs. He began to drool as he thought about them "Covering" all his "Needs". Then he remembered that in order to do this he needed to find Akira's true identity.

Now a great Sannin would never do anything in a frantic manner, yet he tore through scrolls at such high speeds that he didn't even bother to put them back after he was done. The floor was littered with half closed scrolls. And of course there wasn't a person in all of Konoha that would dare kick him out of the library. So he continued late into the night. His unspoken vow a constant reminder. He would find Akira's true name. Nothing this side of hell was going to stop him.

The day of the chunnin exams had arrived and so had all the gennin that were going to participate in it. Team five showed up near the office to turn in their papers so they could participate in the exam, when three older gennin stood in front of them. "You guys are too weak to enter these exams. You'll just be wasting space. We've been trying to pass these exams for three years now and haven't managed yet. What makes you think you can even come close?"

Yuki instantly was up in a huff, and ready to kick their asses when Tsubaki of all people intervened. "Well, then if you're still alive I guess that means they can't be that hard. After all if someone who is as obviously as talentless as you are then managed to even survive these exams then a team like ours will pass without even breaking a sweat."

The older gennins didn't like what he said so much. And decided to show their displeasure by beating the snot out of these little gennin, to show them just how weak they really were. They noticed shortly that all they were managing to do despite their best effort was give these little gennins a bloody nose. Then something dawned on one of them. "**KAI**!" And they all felt a genjutsu lift off them. They looked at eachother in astonishment before looking towards the registration office, to see Team five calmly walking away.

After team five got out of sight they each released they jutsu and transformed back into the chunnin they really were. "Those kids are something, I can't believe they actually got us with a genjutsu without us even noticing. Thats amazing, their teamwork must be unrivaled by any other team here."

One of the other chunnin shook his head "**They** didn't catch us in a genjutsu. **He** caught us in a genjutsu. Just the one of them. His is that one clan thats eyes turn red shortly after puberty. And if what I've heard of them is correct, then hes not even the strongest link of that trio. This is going to be an interesting exam this year."

Team five continued into the waiting room where all the other gennin who were participating in the exams stood. There were gennin from all four villages here. And all of them looked just as anxious to get this thing started.

Then a jounin entered the room and announced "All gennin who will be taking the chunnin exams follow me." Without another word he turned around and walked into the room behind him. All the gennin followed him.

In the room they had a seating chart set up on the far wall, showing where all of them would sit. Something all the gennin noticed was that all of them were separated from their own teams. And they found out it was a written exam. Akira almost laughed at Yuki's distress. He knew how she always shirked studying. He almost laughed, until he found they all had to pass as a team or they would all fail, then his mood darkened a little. This was going to be difficult.

He jounin explained the exam. "Everyone starts off with ten points. There are ten questions. Each team needs twenty points to pass. However If any member of a team gets a zero on their test the whole team fails. For every wrong question you lose one point. Every time you are caught cheating one point is also deducted from your score, but if you are caught cheating three times you and your team fail. Also the tenth question will be given after forty-five minutes. In other words you get forty-five minutes to pass or fail this test... well what are you waiting on? You only have forty-four minutes left I wouldn't suggest you waste it gawking at me, I'm not that ugly."

The gennin all turned over their papers and began working on their test, And the jounin known as the "Baboon" smiled to himself. He couldn't wait to give the final question, although wolverine had been begging to be the one to give it Baboon refused. This was his fun time.

Akira soon realized that while he could answer most of his questions, there was no way most of the gennin could answer any of them. So he began to think carefully, why would they tell you that you would fail the test if you got caught cheating, not once but three times? Then it came to him, this test wasn't about your knowledge on things that were obviously beyond most gennins levels. This test was to see if you could cheat without getting caught!

_Flashback_

_Jiraiya looked at his students with a serious face, something he only did when on a mission usually. "Here is something you must never forget, To a shinobi rules don't exist. Your only goal is to achieve your objective by whatever means are necessary. Don't forget this, no matter what mission you are given, it must be achieved. Obviously your not gonna kill a person for getting in your way on the "Finding the cat" mission, but I think you understand what I'm saying."_

_End flashback_

As soon as Akira realized this he knew he had to find a way to get the message to Yuki and Tsubaki. Out of the corner of his eye he glanced at Tsubaki and discovered that he was already done. Apparently he had already figured it out. That was good, but now he had to get the message to Yuki, and he was unsure of how he could. Then he remembered. If you were caught cheating three times you would be disqualified. Well he would only have to be caught once.

Akira wrote down a message on a piece of paper and boldly stood up. Then he walked over to Yuki's desk and placed it on her desk, before walking back to his seat. "Well" he thought to himself, "I only have two more times left. Better not get caught."

Yuki looked down at the piece of paper and read it. "Here is something you must never forget, To a shinobi rules don't exist. Your only goal is to achieve your objective by whatever means are necessary. Don't forget this, no matter what mission you are given, it must be achieved Better hurry, we don't have much time left."

Yuki was so grateful to him, she hadn't managed to answer a single question, and was on the verge of tearing her hair out. Now that she knew she was supposed to cheat she only had to figure out who to cheat off of. And of course Akira was the obvious choice as he would probably have already finished. Inscribing a seal on her test sheet she activated it and waited for the results.

Akira noticed a seal appear on his paper, and he knew it had appeared on every other test sheet in the room. Most people would wonder what it was, but he knew. This seal had been invented in the Sealmasters clan, by students who hadn't studied and decided to cheat. When the seal was activated on one paper all other pieced of paper in the entire room that were similar to that one would gain the seal as well. The downside was that once those kids grew up and the next generation tried to use it, the teachers already knew what it looked like so it pretty much stopped there. But it managed to make it to the library somehow.

Once someone else activated their side of the seal all the information was transferred from their paper to the seal. When someone else activated their end, their papers information would also be transferred into the seal where the information from both papers would fuse. Because of this both parties would have to wait till after this to write their names on their papers as their names would become fused together in a blob.

Akira activated his seal and watched it change shape slightly. To anyone who didn't know what it was, it just appeared to be some sort of symbol.

Yuki quickly transferred the seals contents over to her paper then filled in her name. She suddenly felt much better. Now she would pass the test.

The Baboon slammed his hand down on his desk. Everyone stopped what they were doing. "Times up." Most everyone looked fairly satisfied as they figured they had passed the first nine. The tenth question couldn't be too difficult. "I'm sure you all think that this next question will be a breeze. Well this question is not one you can pass simply by cheating off someone who knows the answer. This question has it's own set of rules as well. You can stand up right now and choose to not take this question, in which case both you and your team fail."

A gennin from the village hidden in the mist yelled out "Why the hell would we choose to fail on purpose no less? You think we're stupid?"

The Baboon looked at him before replying. "As far as the first question, because if you take the tenth question, I can guarantee you will die." There was a hush as he continued "And as far as your second question, do you really want me to answer that?"

Unfortunately all the gennin seemed to miss the humor of his last remark. Then the same gennin spoke again "Well if we are all gonna die by taking the tenth question why would anyone take it?"

The Baboon looked as them just as calmly as before and said "Because if you take the tenth question there is a possibility that you will make chunnin before you die." That pretty much did it. The instant he said that nearly a third of the class stood up. They all knew that each year there was a different instructor. So they would just take it a year when they had someone who wasn't out to get them. And chunnin wasn't worth dieing over. Of course since a third of the class stood up, all their teammates had to leave by default

By the time it was done and over with only ten teams remained. The Baboon looked around before saying. "So your all willing to take the tenth question even though you know you will die?"

Akira spoke out "We knew the instant we became gennins that there was a possibility that we would die. You say we will die. Be that as it may, I like to defy the odds."

The Baboon decided he had done his fair share and let the know the tenth question. "Well, here is the ones who have died because they took the tenth question in years past." He began listing off names. And it wasn't a short list. Fifteen minutes had passed by the time he had finished. He looked slowly back up at the class.

"These are all those who have died in service of Konoha in just the last ten years. This list does not include any of the other villages as the list would take far longer than we have. Those of you who are interested I'm sure you can ask for a list like that back at home. Something you need to know. Some people become shinobi and only take missions that don't sound dangerous so they will be safe. Well thats fine as we always need someone to do missions that other find boring. But a true shinobi knows that he can die at any moment, and therefor does not fear death but walks side by side with it. All of you will die, that is set in stone. But something all those who walked out seem to have forgotten, is that so will they. Everyone dies, the only thing about death that can be changed is when and where. Remember that."

With that he turned and walked out holding his left shoulder remembering a friend who had always managed to stay one step ahead of death. The very same friend who had taken a step back to save him from deaths grip, and gotten snatched instead.

An older, grumpy looking jounin entered the room, and glanced around. Then he turned around and started walking out again, he stopped at the door and said "You coming or not?" Then walked out the rest of the way. Everyone looked around in confusion, was he an instructor? Finally one person got up to follow him, and the rest of the classroom followed suit.

They followed him to a forest that they had all been forbidden to enter their entire lives. At the edge there was a fence, with a man sitting with his back propped up against it. When they got closer they noticed he was snoring. "Get up fool! Your gennin are here!" The grumpy older man shouted.

The man looked up with sleepy eyes. He had extremely dark brown eyes, and red hair that had the edges tinted black. He was obviously from the Irikari clan, who all had the same color hair. They were actually born that way. They were known for their incredible stamina and knowledge of different Taijutsu fighting styles. It was said that there was only five styles that their clan had not mastered in the entire world, and the Gentle Fist fighting style, which the Hyuuga's were known for was one of those five.

"Why hello there, what took you so long? I coulda had a nap with how long you were gone." His eyes barely opened as he said this, only a select few would even notice the absolute awareness that shone through, the mark of a true veteran.

The older man's fists trembled in barely controlled fury. He was remembering about twenty minutes ago when he had been told to go get the gennin, because the Irikari had been to "Tired" to go himself. "I apologize, I must work on being faster."

The Irikari nodded his head lazily before slowly getting to his feet. "Well little gennin, my name is Lee, Irikari Lee. I am to be your instructor for the second part of the chunnin exams. This exam will be taking place in the forest of death. Each team will be given one scroll. The are three types of scrolls. You need all three to pass. Also you must reach the tower located in the center in three days. Those who have not made it there in three days fail, as do anyone who has not obtained three scrolls. I would suggest you do not doddle. On average, one forth of those who enter this portion of the test, die. Because of this it is only required that two thirds of your team survive. But remember the more of your team that dies, the smaller chance you have of succeeding."

The older man nodded his head before saying. "Proceed to the tent that is located over there. There you may pick up your scroll. You will have one hour to prepare yourselves before the second part of the exam begins. I suggest you be prepared."

All the gennin had become extremely silent. They went over to the tent to pick up their scrolls. After an hour had passed they gathered near the entrance where Lee was waiting. "Those who wish to back out now may do so, as I'm sure your opponents will show you no mercy. No one? Very well, if you are all prepared... BEGIN!

**AN: dun dun dun. I coulda continued but as I was taking forever I decied to end this chapter here to give you guys a little something while I work on the rest of the exams. Sorry I have taken so long. To ****aNg3l0fDaRkNeSs, ****HAH! Its not Arashi! Faced! Anyways, The reason I have taken so long on this one is very simple... I'm very lazy. Sorry but it's the truth. I kept starting to work on it, then would get distracted and go play a video game. I guess I'm just rude. By the way, pay close attention to any clans that you haven't heard of before, I assure you each one will become very familiar with the characters we all know and love from the actual manga. Well until next time, I promise to get chapter 14 out sooner than this one was.**


	14. Hollow Victories

**AN: Sorry all, I lost my motivation to write for quite a while. (And no I don't blame any of you.) But now I have gained it back and I'm up and running. (Maybe the giant bag of M&M's helped) Anywho I guess I have broken my promise last time to get this out sooner than last chapter. Oh well, sue me. Welcome to chapter 14. Tragedy strikes and someone finds out the pain of sacrifice for a friend. Someone will die, someone will betray a close friend, and someone will be forced to attack an ally. Welcome to... Hollow Victories**

_All the gennin had become extremely silent. They went over to the tent to pick up their scrolls. After an hour had passed they gathered near the entrance where Lee was waiting. "Those who wish to back out now may do so, as I'm sure your opponents will show you no mercy. No one? Very well, if you are all prepared... BEGIN! _

**Hollow Victories**

Every team there disappeared into the foliage instantly. Each determined to get as far from the others as possible, so as to have time to set up a plan of sorts. Once Akira, Yuki, and Tsubaki, got a good distance away they set up a small perimeter in a clearing and began to plan. Actually Akira and Tsubaki began to plan, Yuki just sat around looking bored with the whole planning process.

Yuki while waiting for them to finish began to play with her lasher. Sending it this way and that, training in a sense, but more for fun than anything. Finally tiring of that she spoke. "For the sake of my sanity are you guys done yet? Why the hell can't we just go and beat the hell out of any teams we meet until we find the right scroll?"

Akira and Tsubaki gave her a disdained look before Akira replied. "Yuki, while we may be the strongest team from Konoha, that does not by any means, mean we are the strongest team here. Other villages each have their own 'Elite' teams, and many of them have years more experience on us. Not to mention that the other teams will be sure to have traps of their own set, especially Genjutsu... If we don't have a plan prepared we won't stand a chance on defeating even the weaker teams."

Yuki looked somewhat mollified, as she hated Genjutsu with a passion. Both having to use it, and having it used against her. So she let them get back to planning as she sat up against a tree and took a nap.

After a time Akira called for her, saying they had finished the plan. She hurried over to hear what they had to say. At first she looked kinda disappointed, but as he continued to explain it her eyes lit up. This could end up being fun after all.

A nin from the Village Hidden in the Mist, listened to them explain their plan to the red haired girl. He had to admit, it was pretty impressive. If he hadn't heard them explain it in detail he probably would have been badly over matched if he just stumbled into it later. But now he had the information that when he told his team, would make their victory easy. He took off quickly but quietly to inform his team of what he had just found out. Their first scroll, was going to be easy.

Yuki was set in charge of putting traps in the form of seals around their perimeter, while Akira worked with the projectile traps, and Tsubaki of course was in charge of using Genjutsu to hide all of them. Once they went over the game plan again they each went to their posts to wait for an unsuspecting victim.

So they waited, and waited, and waited some more. Unfortunately, mentioning no names, but a certain girl on their team got tired of "Waiting" and decided to speed things up. Jumping out of her hiding place she sped off in a direction that she figured might have some people. She was right. She ran into a group of nin from the village hidden in the mist. All three of the nin attacked her immediately.

Yuki's skills were without question quite advanced when it came to combat. However, three against one often leaves the one person at a major disadvantage. This time was no different. Yuki whipped out her lasher and struck at the two nearest to her, not an actual attempt to hit them, but more of an attempt to give herself some room by making them back off some.

The three nin circled her warily, fully aware that an unknown weapon is often more dangerous than any known one, simply because you don't know what do expect. They began throwing Shuriken at her to test her defenses, which they discovered was very solid. One of them jumped out of their little circle and began to preform hand seals.

Yuki was unsure what jutsu he was doing, but was unable to interrupt him as the other two kept her on her guard. When he finished his hand seals he looked directly at her and spoke softly **Reversal Of Fortune**.

Suddenly Yuki's eyes began to glaze over, and she dropped her defensive stance. The three Mist nin smiled as they followed her back to her camp. Akira saw Yuki and wondered what was wrong with her, as she appeared to be daydreaming or something.

Tsubaki however didn't decide to wait and find out. He jumped out of his hiding place to reprimand her on leaving her post. Suddenly with a speed that even made Akira blink, Yuki whipped out her lasher and sent it straight at Tsubaki. Tsubaki was so surprised by it that he barely dodged the majority of it, however it still made a deep furrow in his back.

She whirled around bringing it back towards him in a roundhouse type manner. Tsubaki was not a close combat ninja. He had dedicated his life to to genjutsu, even so he had enough basic combat training to pull out a kunia to protect himself from being cut in two. Unfortunately the lasher is not a standard weapon, and cannot be blocked simply because you parry it with a blade. The lasher wrapped around his middle pinning his arms to his sides. His eyes widened in horror as he realized he was unable to do anything. With eyes that seemed to not see anything, she jerked the lasher back towards herself rending his flesh in a manner that gave him a new sympathy for anyone who had ever encountered its jagged blades before.

His scream pierced the night as his arms were cut to the bone, leaving them completely useless at his sides. His stomach had avoided the brunt of it by that one kunia that was in between it and the lasher itself. His back however was jaggedly cut to the bone just like his arms. He lay on the ground unable to feel anything from his waist down, and wishing it was the same for his arms, due to the overwhelming agony.

Akira however shocked he was sprang into action. Determined to protect Tsubaki from being finished off by the apparently hypnotized Yuki. He whipped out his own kunai and charged Yuki, determined to disarm her as fast as possible. He quickly found out she was a much more dangerous opponent when she wasn't just sparing with you.

Her lasher zoomed at him, and he used the kunai to deflect it and rush in closer. Quickly he was within the lashers immediate reach and grabber ahold of her weapon arm with one hand, he brought the handle of the kunai in towards a nerve that would turn her arm numb for a few minutes. Much to his surprise she let go of the lasher before he made contact and grabbed ahold of the his arm that was holding hers, then she took her leg and hooked it around his arm in a method that he knew instantly would break it the instant she straighted it out. Refusing to let his arm be broken he let go of his kunai and slammed his palm into her chin in order to daze her into letting him go.

His palm made contact but instead of just letting go she dropped one hand to the ground and swung around planting one foot solidly in his chest, knocking the wind out of him, and sending him flying for several meters. Even while he was still in mid-air she rushed him. She sped towards him and then slid beneath him, before kicking him straight up in the air. Then she took out several shuriken and threw them at him, and then began doing some hand seals.

Him being in mid-air, he was unable to dodge them, so he deflected them with his feet. They tore up his boots badly, but he was still alive. Then he noticed her finish whatever jutsu she had been preparing. "**Fire Style: Grand Fireball No jutsu!**"

The first word that ran through his mind was "Shit." Still in the air, and therefore still unable to dodge he used a counter jutsu. "**Water style: Frozen Mist No Jutsu!**" The air in front of him began to freeze as if a cloud had been created then turned to ice. The fireball from Yuki completely engulfed the ice cloud, but instead of burning though him too, it merely made the air uncomfortably hot.

By this time Akira had reached a tree limb from which to regain control of his movement. He glanced down and noticed that Tsubaki had apparently managed to overcome his pain enough to be aware of his surroundings. "Tsubaki if there is anything you could tell me that might help, now would be the time. Tsubaki looked around and said "I think she may be under a genjutsu that is fooling her into thinking she is fighting some sort of enemy. When we are in fact the target. I would say our best bet of winning... is to kill her."  
Akira looked at him like he had gone insane. "You can't be serious?! She's our teammate! We can't give up on her that easily. There must be a way to remove the genjutsu."

Tsubaki shoot his head "It's not that simple. Whoever could put Yuki under a genjutsu this powerful, and without any preparation time, has to be extremely good. In their place I would make it so the genjutsu wore off by itself, but make it so she thought we had become her enemies. In other words the odds are the genjutsu wore off before you two even began fighting. Probably shortly after she attacked me. When you attacked her they probably canceled it. Right now, I would be surprised if she was even still under a genjutsu."  
Akira looked at her surprised. And then noticed that indeed the blank look was gone from her eyes, and it had been replaced with a seemingly enraged look, that said she wanted nothing more than to tear his heart out. Finally resigned to stop holding back he charged at her, determined to finish the fight in one blow. Drawing one kunai in each hand he attacked her full force, something that apparently even their years of training together had not prepared her for. In only two minutes she lay on the ground unmoving, him on his knees crying.

Then the source of their problems showed up. "I must admit I didn't think you would actually kill your teammate. I thought it would end up her the one standing over your dead body. I guess I underestimated your ruthlessness. But no matter, hand over your scroll and I won't kill you."

Akira slowly reached inside his pouch and took out his scroll before dropping it on the ground, as if his fingers could no longer hold up the weight of it.

They reached over to pick it up when it dissolved. One of them sensing something wasn't right threw his kunai at Akira, only to watch it pass clean through him. Then they heard something. "Honestly, I'll admit Tsubaki I thought this plan seemed lame at first but now I like it. It means I getta kick ass without worrying if someone hiding the the bushes waiting to use some sorta genjutsu on me." they looked over to see Yuki drop down out of the trees, along with Akira, and an unhurt Tsubaki.

Akira spoke first "Tsubaki I have to hand it to you, that was some high quality genjutsu that you used on them. I honestly don't think any of them even suspected a thing."

The mist nins were astounded, not only had they been in a genjutsu the entire time, but they hadn't had a clue. This one gennin had taken them all on a ride. However even though they had lost the advantage they had, they still were ninjas. And therefore a force to be reckoned with. So they thought anyways. Five minutes later the leaf nins walked away with two scrolls, leaving three mist nins battered and bruised in ways they hadn't known possible. One more scroll and this thing was done. Although Tsubaki would have to sit out the next fight, all the advanced genjutsu he had just used had taken a lot out of him.

"Did you see that?" One ninja asked another from the shadows where they had watched the entire fight.

"Of course I did. She is most definatly the one we are looking for." The second one said.

The third one watched in silence. The had finally found her, the daughter of the eight tailed hunter. The reward they had been offered for her was enormous. The amount was enough to set ten men up for life, and they were each going to get that much for her alive. Dead she was worth nothing. And getting her alive would be problematic with her two comrades. They would have to be disposed of. The first one spoke up again "Well how are we going to get her? It might be easiest to simply kill another team and get their scroll, then when we approach them they will think we are simply another team from the exams."

Indeed it sounded like a good plan. Once they all agreed on it they set out to find a team which would be unlucky enough to get discovered by three of the best freelance bounty hunters in the land, not counting the tailed hunters themselves of course.

The three leaf nin were moving quietly yet quickly through the trees searching for their next target. Hoping to find another team as quickly as possible. They discovered a team from Suna, the Village hidden in the sand. And apparently they had been waiting for them. "Well well. It would seem they came to us after all. This was much easier than trying to find them ourselves." One of the sand nin said.

Team five got on their guard as they were unsure if any traps had been placed. Suddenly Tsubaki spoke up "Yuki, Akira, something is off. I think... I'm not sure but the guy on the left seems... odd. I think he's... A clone!" Yuki and Akira started as they heard a noise come from behind. Three ninjas attacked from behind, one going for each of them... or so they thought. It turned out that the ones going for Yuki and Akira were clones as well. And the one going for Tsubaki wasn't. This time the scream coming from Tsubaki wasn't simply part of a genjutsu to fool the enemies. This time it was him in agony... as the sword of the ninja severed his spinal cord. Tsubaki dropped to the ground like a puppet who's strings had been cut.

Akira and Yuki yelled in fury. And charged in determined to kill this man who had ambushed their friend. "How dare you attack from behind you cowards!" Yuki screamed at them.

One of them laughed before replying. "You foolish girl. This isn't one of the games you played while you were a kid, maybe if you hadn't been so slow he wouldn't have died. There are no rules in battle, except to win!" Yuki stopped dead in her tracks as she realized that was exactly what it was. Their last battle Tsubaki had done everything. And because of it he hadn't had the energy to move fast enough to get out of the way. In effect the reason he had been unable to do anything was because her and Akira had let him do everything last time while they sat back and relaxed. Never again would she let her friends be injured just because it might be safer for her. No matter what the cost she would kill anyone who threatened her friends.

Akira moved ahead of her to engage this man alone, and by the time Yuki recovered form her state of mind the other two had placed themselves in between her and Akira. Yuki screamed her rage out loud and whipped out her lasher to show them the price of hurting her friends. They smirked as they played with this girl who though she had what it took to take them down by herself.

Akira quickly realized that they were facing no gennins. These opponents were much more skilled than any gennin he had ever even heard of much less faced before. He noticed their scroll was lying carelessly on the ground near a log they had been sitting on when they were waiting before. Then that meant these guys were only pretending to be gennins. So who were they really? And what were they after. They obviously weren't the demon hunters from before. To many things said differently. And one of those things was that this guy wanted nothing more than to kill Akira as fast as possible. He obviously wasn't holding back.

Akira glanced over at Yuki and saw she was merely being toyed with by the other two. Her rage would be her undoing. She obviously didn't realize she was no match for them. One of them was more than she could handle. Two was enough to make sure she wasn't able to do more than wear herself out. Akira began to think of ways to beat this guy. When it came down to it, he would have to win using the element of surprise. True this guy probably had watched their last fight, but Akira hadn't really used any of his specialties then. He could use the body flicker, but if he didn't time it right the guy would survive, and then he would have no chance at all if the guy was prepared for it.

Akira switched to a stance Jiraiya had taught him. It was called the **Toads Moondance**. Jiraiya used it to keep from getting hit while jumped around looking up womens skirts or down they blouses. Akira always laughed as it never helped much, it was a good stance, but women often aimed their punches randomly and Jiraiya managed to usually run into their punches more often than evading them. But against an actual fighter it usually was extremely effective... at evading. But thats all this stance really did was help you to evade. So it was generally used to evade till you escaped, or evade till help came. Since neither was really an option for Akira he planned on using it to make his opponent leave an opening. Even Anbu made mistakes now and then, even though it was rare. This guy was only human, eventually he would mess up once, and then Akira would pounce.

Akira decided to quickly take stock of his opponent. He had a midsized katana, and clothes that once you paid attention to it were much to small for him. Enough so that if timed right you could actually attack him without him being able to counter you. Then Akira head Yuki scream out a jutsu she had apparently finished without him knowing. "**Sealmasters Secrets: Transformation of the Dragon!**" Well if she was going all out that would distract them a bit he was sure, not many people can discover they are going face to face with a dragon and just take it calmly.

These men apparently were surprised to be sure, but unfortunately it didn't unnerve them at all. Akira continued to engage the guy who he was fighting, making sure to only do enough to appear to be a halfway decent fighter. And soon the guy he was fighting lost interest in him, and started watching Yuki and the other two fight, while he absentmindedly attacked Akira without even really trying to bother killing him anymore. Like he wasn't really worth the effort. Finally Akira saw an opening and used the body flicker to get in close, behind the guy. Putting every ounce of concentration into it that he had he shouted the name of his jutsu. "**Rasengan!**" and shoved it into the back of his opponent.

The effect literally tore the man in half. Attempting to ignore the results of his jutsu he used the body flicker to get near one of the men fighting Yuki, in an attempt to take him out before he noticed that his comrade had fallen. Unfortunately this man was nowhere near as careless as the other and in one move sent Akira flying into a tree. He followed up and was about to stab Akira with a oddlooking knife when he stopped to deflect a kunia that was aimed for his head. He turned to see Tsubaki using one arm to prop himself up while he had used the other to throw a kunai at the man.

The man was obviously surprised that Tsubaki was still alive, much less able to move, and decided to fix that little problem. He rushed in and kicked Tsubaki in the chin, lifting his entire body off the ground and sending him flying. When he landed the man crouched over him and slowly stabbed his knife into each of Tsubakis shoulders, rendering them useless. Tsubaki cried out in pain, but when he opened his eyes they no longer had the color they once had, but were bright red, and he had a insane looking grin on his face. "Your mine bastard!" he said before he shouted the name of the jutsu he used... without even using hand seals. "**Saydori Arts: A Caged Mind!**" with that both him and the man colasped to the ground unmoving.

Akira had never seen that jutsu before, but rather than waste time wondering about it he turned his attention to the final man, who apparently was the strongest of the three. He wore a black cloak, and a hood that covered his face. And his strength was apparently enough to take Yuki on in her dragon form. A great feat in itself. And the worst part was that he didn't look like he was even having any difficulty. Akira knew in her dragon form that Yuki would be resistant to fire, so he jumped up and used a jutsu to possibly injure their opponent, or at least slow him down. "**Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!**" When the fire cleared Akira stared in shock. It wasn't some random ninja, or even a demon hunter. The person he least expected was standing in front of him... Zalagrim Ukriz himself.

Zal smiled before saying "Well isn't that a pity, now that you've seen me. I'm going to have to kill you first."

**AN: DUN, DUN, DUN! Cliffhanger of the day! Sorry all again for the delay. Again no I'm not going to discontinue this story for any reason, I just might take awhile to post each chapter. If your disappointed about how easily they beat the mist nins, sorry but thats just the way it goes. I was going to make this chapter a bit longer, but figured it would be best to get it out there before I lost all my readers. so... there it is. Were you surprised when you found Zal was fighting them? I was! Oh wait a sec... now I have to wonder why the hell Zal is interfering with the chunin exams, and why he was part of a group that pretty much killed tsubaki? Or damn near did. Will Tsubaki survive? Why is Zal there? And why oh why am I just so dammed lazy? Some of these things we will eventually know, others... well probably not. Jutsu list time!**

**Jutsu/technique descriptions **

**Water style: Frozen Mist No Jutsu**

This jutsu is gennin level. This jutsu takes the water in the air and cools it extremely fast turning it into ice. If preformed incorrectly the user could accidentally cover themselves in ice as well.

**Fire Style: Grand Fireball No jutsu**

This jutsu is chunnin level. The most powerful fireball jutsu in existence. While there are other fire jutsu that are more powerful this is the most powerful FIREBALL jutsu.

**Toads Moondance**

This is a fighting stance that is used more often that naught to avoid an opponent without actually attacking. It involves mostly hopping back and forth and irritating the hell out of your opponent.

**Saydori Arts: A Caged Mind**

I'm just gonna wait to tell you till next chapter, but lets just say, its pretty mean.


	15. Boiling Blood

**AN: And so after all these years... erg, months? I got 15 done. Took me long enough, someone smack me, I probably deserve it. Well read and you better well review. Granted I hope you like it but, if you don't still leave a review! Lemme know you didn't like it at least! I need it!**

**Enjoy**

**Boiling Blood**

Akira stared in shock at the face of the man who had literally raised him. Something seemed off about him though, he was unsure what but something just seemed different. Despite the fact that he just said he was going to kill him. It was something else entirely. Whatever it was, he supposed he would have to figure out later, Yuki apparently seemed enraged upon either seeing him, or hearing what he had to say. Akira was uncertain which but either way he had no intention of letting anyone, even Zal kill him.

Yuki attacked in force, directing every last bit of her power into her assault, determined to take him down. Akira joined her and together they created a offense strong enough to make even a jounin hesitate. But this was no simple jounin, and he made that very clear. Yuki sent several massive fireballs towards Zal and Akira followed up with a shower of shuriken. He knew he stood no chance in close quarters with him, as Zal's taijutsu was practically godly. But with the proper distance and use of some well placed jutsus and some good strategy together they could take down even Zal, he was fairly sure.

Akira watched as the fireballs impacted the area, and waited for the smoke to clear to see if they had hit. He already knew that Zal was even more resilient versus fire than Yuki, but those shuriken that were following behind should leave a nasty surprise. When the smoke cleared he saw something that shocked him. Zal was completely unharmed, and was holding the one weapon Akira had never in his entire lifetime seen Zal use. A scythe. And as shocking as that was there was one more thing that made that seemed like a minor surprise. Zal's eyes... Zal had the sharingan.

Akira went through every memory he had, and could think of not one that allowed someone to copy a Bloodline limit. That meant this wasn't Zal, and was in fact an Uchiha, who was using a **Henge Jutsu** to look like him. That took away some of Akira's worries. Yuki must have known right away, as being this close to her own father would have been simple to tell. And since this was some unnamed Uchiha, that meant they had a vague idea of what his arsenal would include. Usually some advanced fire jutsu, and a lot of advanced genjutsu because of the sharingan itself. Not to mention extremely fast reflexes wouldn't be helping things.

Nonetheless it was still two versus one. Even an Uchiha would have difficulties against the two of them. Knowing mere fire jutsu obviously wasn't going to work he decided to switch tactics. Sending a flurry of kunai at his target he moved in close to engage in taijutsu using tactics he had learned from Jiriaya, to try and get his opponent to leave an opening for Yuki to get a hit in. He quickly found himself more on the defensive than the offensive. Whoever this guy was his skill was not simply jounin, he was near to Jiriaya's level.

Akira began to think of ways to get his opponent to leave an opening, as simply fighting wasn't going to manage it. Akira gained some distance from his opponent and decided to ask him some questions. "Who the hell are you? And why are you interfering in the chunnin exams? I thought the Uchihas were allies."

The man who looked like Zal laughed. "My, my. You seem to be confused, I am not affiliated with the Uchiha clan. They are simply around to serve one final purpose, after which they will be disposed of. And as far as who I am, I'm sure the young dragon could tell you. She seems to recognize me even after all these years."

Akira looked at her confused, so she knew him? Then he heard a voice in his head. "He's my uncle, Iku." Akira was as shocked to hear her voice in his head as he was to find out her relative was trying to kill them.

Iku raised an eyebrow. "From your expression I'm guessing she just told you. Well despite pleasantries, I must hurry this along as interference would complicate things. Please try not to die to noisily, its very irritating." With that he rushed Akira with such blinding speed Akira could barely see him. Akira was unable to do anything with such little amount of time, so he simply ducked down as fast as he could and put up a minor defense hoping not to get injured to badly. At the last moment Yuki's tail wrapped around Iku's waist bringing his momentum to a complete stop. Akira took the moment to bring up his best jutsu, "**Rasengan**!" Iku blocked the attack with his scythe, but the scythe began to strain from the brute force of the powerful jutsu.

Iku's eyes widened in surprise to see that Akira's jutsu was actually winning. Iku formed a single seal and said "**Fire Style: Restraining Serpent Jutsu**!" Akira watched as the fiery snake wound its way around his arm keeping him from moving it any closer to Iku's face, and burning his arm in the process. Iku began to smirk as he saw Akira's concentration begin to waver from the pain of his arm burning and blistering.

Suddenly Iku gasped in pain of his own, Akira glanced to see the blades hidden in Yuki's tail had unsheathed themselves and sliced their way into Iku's body. Iku's concentration faltered and the fiery snake dissipated into a mere puff of smoke. With nothing holding him back anymore his plunged his Rasengan into chest of the man named Iku. Yuki's tail then flung him across the clearing into a tree trunk, his blood trailing behind him in the air.

He hit the tree trunk with a dull thud and lay against it, unmoving for awhile. Then even with a giant hole in his chest he slowly spoke. "My, my. I didn't expect this to happen. I knew Yuki would be somewhat difficult, but I didn't think that a mere human would pose a threat. I seem to have been sorely mistaken. Don't worry, next time we meet I won't make the same mistake. I thought perhaps you were in Konoha, and knowing Zal he's just going to move you both again. But I will find you, of that you can be sure, I have plans for my niece." Then he breathed one last time and slid the rest of the way down the trunk, to lay unmoving on the ground.

Then a slight mist seemed to rise up from the body. Then the body seemed to change until it no longer looked even remotely similar to the guy who had been fighting them seconds ago. A jutsu to make someone else look like you? And be under your complete control? This was something neither of them had heard of. But it didn't matter, they had more urgent matters at hand. Akira rushed over to Tsubaki's side. "Tsubaki? Tsubaki! Can you hear me?"

The examiner had said before the exam that often times teams lost members, but he would be damned if his team was going to lose one. They might lose him from the team for this part of the exams, but there was no way in hell he planned on letting him die. Yuki had transformed back into her normal self and rushed over as well. From a quick examination (done by Akira) Tsbukai seemed to be fairing worse from chakra exhaustion than from his wounds, although his wounds certainly weren't making things better.

Yuki decided to try something, an idea she had come up with awhile ago, but never actually tested it. Using her knowledge of her bloodline she transferred chakra over to Tsubaki. Granted it didn't go as smoothly as when she did it with Zal, and she had to maintain contact the entire time, but she managed to transfer a small amount.

Akira popped a flare, that they had been given by Jiriaya in case of an emergency, and waited for the medic nin's to arrive. Within a few minutes they did, and recovered Tsubaki to take back to the hospital. Every team had the option of calling on them, but to do so would make whoever they treated lose automatically. That person, AKA Tsubaki just failed the exams. But he was alive, and that counted more to them than any test.

After they left Akira went over and retrieved the scroll that had been lying around so carelessly from the so called "Gennins" they had just been fighting. "Comon Yuki. We still have to make it to the tower before our time is up. Who knows what other obstacles we may run into."

Yuki glanced at him, then dropped her gaze to the ground, nodding only slightly. The two of them took off moving as fast as possible, as to avoid any more delays. They made it to the tower within a day of their fight with Iku, and his partners in crime.

Upon their arrival they found Jiraiya waiting for them. They both rushed up to him to ask how Tsubaki was doing but he put a finger to his lips to signal silence. He pointed to their scrolls to let them know they needed to open them. Understanding him they laid their scrolls out on the ground, and began to piece together what was written.

The first scroll said "_Earth. This is to symbolize the body. When properly maintained the fruit planted will sprout forth one hundred fold, granting the planter rewards unfathomed. Take good care of the earth that is your own, and you rewards will be immeasurable. Never let your body fail, as doing so robs you of the chance to show the world what you can do._"

The second scroll said "_Wind. This is to symbolize the mind. Often times the wind blows this way and that, not really settling on one idea. Harness the power of the mind and your power shall be unrivaled. The one who fully harnesses the power of the mind, shall defeat all his enemies, and protect all his allies. Never let your mind go to waste. There are few greater losses than that of the mind._"

And the final scroll read "_Fire. This is to symbolize the spirit. Not the spirit as in the soul, but the spirit as in the fighting spirit of a ninja. A true ninja never gives up. Never fails at anything, even when they have less than desirable results. Never puts self worth above that of his village. The fire of ones spirit, is not quenched by anything... even death. Your fire can continue on even after your death in the ones you loved. Never let your spirits fire be quenched, as this is the greatest loss of all._"

Akira and Yuki glanced at eachother. Both of them strangely calmed after reading the scrolls. They glanced over at Jiraiya only to see him dissipate in a puff of smoke. Leaving behind a message. "I'll meet you two back in Konoha, Something is afoot. Let us hope is doesn't spell bad news for all of Konoha." They glanced up to see a jounin waiting for them. They walked over to him and he put hand on each of their shoulders, an odd wind blew around them and suddenly they were back in Konoha, at an arena. Apparently most of the other teams that were alive, had made it back as well. Which actually only ended up being fifteen people. Anyone else had either died or been disqualified.

"Welcome to the final portion of the chunnin exams. This portion of the exam will take place today. A pre-elimination round. We have too many people and want to cut the numbers a bit. So right now we are going to do several, one versus one rounds to make things a little better on the number scale." All then gennin were outraged, they had just been in the field for several days and now they had to fight eachother right away without any rest. "Anyone wishing to drop out now may do so."

Three people looked uncertain, as if they were thinking of it but not sure. The announcer added "From here on this is not a team event. Dropping out now will not cause your allies to fail as well. If anything your just giving them less competition." Those three raised their hands, not one of them from the same team as the other. The fatigue had obviously taken its toll on them, and they decided to try again next year after additional training. The announcer glanced around before stating "Very well, let the gennin proceed up the the balcony to observe the fights form there. Two random gennin will be paired to fight eachother and their names will be shown on that scoreboard there." He pointed to the far side of the room.

Everyone went up the stairs to the balcony he had pointed to earlier. And watched as the first rounds came and went. Neither Yuki nor Akira paid any real attention to them. Even though they were calmer than before, they were still worried about Tsubaki. Even when each of their own fights came up, then simply went down, engaged their opponents, and defeated them in short order.

The two of them were nothing short of magnificent their audience would later tell their friends. Neither of them seemed to break a sweat even. Yuki simply whipped out her lasher the instant the announcer said go, and wrapped up her opponent tightly. He gave up immediately after that, something about her cold demeanor said she wouldn't hesitate to kill him. Akiras battle was almost as short, but in a different matter. Yuki had in short order intimidated her opponent into submission, while Akira pummeled his into unconsciousness.

Their minds were on a teammate that they would be unable to see until the preliminaries were over. Their teammate who was having a battle of his own, and without their realizing, he was proving to be as good... or better than them.

The middle aged jounin looked at his surroundings. This had to be a genjutsu of some sort. Mere seconds ago he had been toying with some gennin who had thrown a kunia at his head, and now he was in some land where there was a mist so thick that he couldn't see more than ten feet in front of him. Then he heard a voice. "You foolish little man. In your world my body is frail and incapable of doing so many things. But here, your in my world now. All your years of training mean nothing here. All your knowledge of jutsu, and combat forms means even less. Here, I am the master. And everything here obeys my every command."

The jounin watched as a young man appeared out of the mist. The jounin smiled to himself. Whatever this guy was talking about didn't matter. He was a professional, he had been a ninja for years. And if there was one thing he knew it was combat. A mere genjutsu wasn't going to beat him. He placed his hands together and said "**Kai**!" He waited for a second and opened his eyes confident that the genjutsu was gone.

Only to see that absolutely nothing had changed. "Hah ha ha ha. Foolish old man. You thought this was some sort of genjutsu? My my. This is funny. This is no genjutsu. I ripped your mind right out of your body. The place you see before you... is in fact my mind. The jutsu I used on you is in fact native to my clan only. You see the Yamanaka clan can enter someone else's mind and control them. But my clan brings you inside us. A trained mind has an advantage over an untrained one. And being the fact that your in my mind, gives me a home field advantage of sorts. No jutsu works here, as you have no chakra to actually use. Now time to pay the piper."

Tsubaki disappeared and the jounin began to hear chanting somewhere in the fog. Rushing to where he seemed to hear the chanting he stuck attempting to put an end to this jutsu by incapacitating his the fool who dared to attempt to make light of his skills. However his fists merely stuck more mist. Everywhere he went it was just more mist. After a time the jounin began to panic. In his entire life he had never been so powerless. He was stripped of all his jutsu. And taijutsu would have no effect if he couldn't find an opponent in the first place. And he was starting to think even if he did it wouldn't matter. His opponent was obviously trained in fighting others in the mind. Whereas he had never even heard of such a thing.

Out of the mist Tsubaki spoke "You know if you look really hard, you will notice a blue stream of energy that is coming out of your body. Concentrate, I'm sure you can do it." The jounin looked around before he began to see what he was talking about. It seemed almost like a lifeline of blue energy leading from himself to somewhere. "That energy is your link to your body" The jounin realized he may still have a chance of getting out of there. He probably just needed to get to the end of that lifeline. "One thing you should know. If that energy gets severed in some way, you will never be able to return to your body." Suddenly the mist cleared, and the jounin saw Tsubaki standing in front of him, next to the lifeline. Tsubaki smirked then made a gesture. A sword appeared in his hand, and a insane looking grin made its appearance on his face, with one stroke he sliced down through the jounins last link to his body.

For that jounin he could feel it, the actual link to his body cut in two. A blackness began to overtake him, and his last thoughts were on the insane laughter of this man who had he had been so sure was only a gennin.

"Are you certain? I've heard of it happening, but only very rarely." One man spoke in the hospital room.

The other man with red eyes replied. "There is no doubt in my mind. Actually mastered a powerful jutsu that rips his opponents mind from his body. Theres only been a few people in history that have mastered this jutsu in less than fifty years. Normally it takes fifty or more years to master this, that he has done so at such a young age is incredible."

But the third voice didn't bear news nearly as good as the man who just spoke. "Incredible, and unfortunate. That one with such potential won't be able to fulfill the role of a ninja anymore. Tsubaki has always had problems with recovering from injuries. His body simply doesn't heal as good as most peoples, even people who aren't ninja's. He was obviously very nearly out of chakra when they encountered the second group. And the injuries inflicted on his body from the second battle... if I wasn't here the odds are he wouldn't have even survived. Even so, he won't ever be able to use any of his limbs ever again. He will never be able to walk, or even pick up a pair of chopsticks ever again. His life as a ninja is over."

Tsunade glanced to see how Tsubaki's father would take the news. Tsubaki's father had been a slightly above average jounin, but not enough so to do much more than earn a few extra marks. He obviously was torn up about it, his only son would never again be able to move over ninety percent of his body. Such a promising young genjutsu specialist, had his career ended before it could truly begin. His father was taking the news rather well. It was obvious the news seriously effected him, but he managed to maintain a straight face.

"Thank you Tsunade-sama. As long as my son lives I will be greatly appreciative." He sat down next to his son, to wait by his side for him to wake up. After Tsunade and the others left the room he silently whispered to Tsubaki. "Give him hell son, show him the price for taking away your chance at glory. Show him just how vindictive that only I know you really are."

Some part of Tsubaki heard him, and decided that day, to never let that jounin die, but to torment him for eternity.

Jiraiya heard the the news from Tsunade in despair. True his student would survive, but the fact that his life as being a ninja was over, was truly devastating. He couldn't let Akira and Yuki know yet, it would distract them from their actual fights in the exams. He was debating about how to tell them when they both appeared before him. Akira spoke up first "How is Tsubaki? Is he ok? Is he going to live?"

Jiraiya hesitated for one sec then put on a smile. "Yeah he's going to be fine, Tsunade says he just needs to rest. You can probably talk to him after your actual battles are over. You better not be thinking on him to much, I'm sure you know as well as I do how pissed he will be if you lose your matchs, he will come up with some speech of how all that pain he went through and you guys wasting it. He'll never let you hear the end of it" He finished with a laugh. Then with a serious expression on his face his continued. "I want both of you to swear to me, that your minds will only be one your next battles. You wont think on how Tsubaki is doing, and you won't worry about how the other person is. When you each have your own fight, you will fight with the intent to kill. Holding back won't be acceptable. You only stop if you opponent forfeits, or the Jounin watching over the match calls the match. Is that understood?"

Both Yuki and Akira looked at eachother. Then they each reached out one hand and gripped the others firmly. "We swear that until the end of the chunnin exams, we won't think of anything, but winning!" They said together, if Jiraiya didn't know better he would have thought they had rehearsed what they were going to say. But he did know better. The bond between Yuki and Akira was seemingly almost as strong as the one between Yuki and Zal. Although in some ways Jiraiya thought perhaps it was stronger.

Yuki had never told Jiraiya more than the bare minimum about hers and Zal's bloodline, but even so he wasn't stupid. When you were around one or both of them as often as he had been you pick up a few things. He had seen them communicate before without showing any sign of speaking, or even a hand signal. He knew of such things as father daughter relationships, but this was on a whole different level. And yet Akira was the one Yuki spent all her time with. Akira was the one Yuki trained with day in and day out. Akira was the one who when fighting beside Yuki knew what she was planning even before Jiraiya himself had figured it out.

As much as he thought this made them an unbreakable duo in fighting, a still small voice deep inside him said that such a bond could only lead to disaster. But even he was curious, how would they fair when facing opponents alone. Their teamwork was superb, but alone even he was not totally aware of their fighting skills. He was as excited to watch how they faired without eachother as anyone else. "One thing you should know. The other leaders of each team are telling their gennins the same thing, I figured it would be best if you knew too. While I'm not telling you that losing is ok, you don't have to win to gain chunnin." their eyes widened slightly as he continued.

"What these fights are all about is proving to the judges that your worthy. Obviously winning is good proof, but winning using only brute force won't gain you chunnin. You need to show that your skill is worthy of becoming a chunnin, as well as your judgement. Make no mistake, there are jounin out there that are not as strong as either of you. However, those jounin give brilliant a new meaning, the greatest way to make chunnin, isn't just combat skills, but how you apply them. Yuki you especially need to be careful. Despite your combat prowess you like to fight. It's as simple as that, don't let your love for combat interfere with your judgment. And Akira, your only fault that I can see is that you care to much about your opponents. While I've seen you take down enemies who injured your allies without batting an eyelash, I've also see you hesitate when attacking someone who hasn't done anything wrong, such as in sparing matchs. Don't let that steal this from you. Now go out there and as soon as you get your chance, both of you show me how you can win!" Both of them nodded and disappeared to take their places on the balcony where the announcer would call the next gennin who were going to fight from.

Jiraiya went to his place near the hokage, where Tsunade also waited. Orochimaru sat next to the hokage on his right side. Jiraiya sat down and commented on how they considered the fights were going to pan out. Orochimaru said something in reply that cause a load "WHAT?!??!" to erupt from Jiraiya's mouth.

Yuki and Akira stood next to the railing watching as the names on the screen began shifting at a high rate. The names of the next match appeared and there was a second of silence before Yuki began to laugh. "Hahahhahhah, sensei. It looks like your nice speech all went to waste eh?" Jiraiya looked like he was foaming at the mouth and Tsunade was just laughing at him. The names on the scoreboard were "**Ukr****iz Yuki Versus ****Tsikyn Akira**"

Both Yuki and Akira had smiles on their faces as they jumped down into the ring. Both were determined to win. Both were going to prove that while they made a great team, individually they were the best. Each one confident that he/she was better than the other.

The announcer announced the start of the match, but for a second they both stood there, then Akira spoke "You know I'm not going to go easy on you."

Yuki brought up her personal stance and replied "Good, then you have no excuse when I beat you!" With that she rushed at him her lasher like an deadly tail, or even an angry serpent waiting to strike. Akira smirked and pulled out several kunai he had taken months to finish. They each had three prongs, and had a seal written on a piece of paper wrapped around the handle. Flinging them in several directions he also threw down a mini smoke grenade hiding himself from view. No punches were going to be pulled in this fight. This was going to be a fight to remember. After all the Kages from the other villages had requested it. The two greatest gennin from konoha, this was something many of them had been waiting to see.

In the stands a young boy watched as these kids moved at speeds that simply wasn't possible for normal people. "So this is what ninja are like. I would have never believed it if I hadn't seen it." Yuki's lasher flailing like something alive, moving so fast that he could barely see it. Akira dodged and deflected it with a speed and skill that were no less astounding.

Suddenly they both stopped, and stood on opposite ends of the ring. "You might as well give up if your not going to go all out." Akira stuck out his tongue at her.

She growled slightly before replying "You have a funny way of saying stuff just before I do. Oh! Your copying my thoughts in advance! How dare you!"

He laughed "You can't copy someones thoughts before they think it. Now your just being stupid."

She growled a little louder. "Fine then, time to pull out all the stops eh? I won't hold back anymore if you don't." He smiled before nodding and they both formed different hand seals, so as to prepare for whatever jutsu they were going to use next. She brought up a grin of her own and said "Fine I'll go first. Your not the only one who has been training by yourself Akira. See what I've accomplished without help from anyone!"

She didn't say a name of a jutsu, but all the same it was obvious she had started hers. Her eyes began to change, but unlike when she normally activated her bloodline, diamonds didn't appear in the corners of her eyes. And her eyes didn't become blue or green. They became a dark red, and while her pupils did become slits, they were black. Her fangs began to enlarge until they were quite noticeable. Her skin began to change to have a slightly scalish look, but not as much as when she transformed into a dragon. And her skin became blue. But the thing that made everyone in the stands gasp slightly was her wings, they looked almost exactly like the ones she had when she was a dragon. And she had a tail to match. Akira had seen those before, so they didn't surprise him as much as the final change. She stayed relatively human.

She didn't become a dragon, but more like a combination of dragon and human. Obviously she wouldn't have the full power she had in full dragon form, but her agility had to be much greater this way. There were some guys in the stand who had been whispering before on how cute she was, but now as far as they were concerned she was anything but. But Akira was awestruck. In his eyes she looked like something beautiful out of a dream. For the moment he completely forgot where they were, and all he saw was Yuki, as a goddess. He watched her wings unfold like a featherless angel. And he also watched as she nearly collapsed to the ground.

"Sorry about that, since this is a mere transformation jutsu like the others, and is me actually changing, its a bit painful. Hence why I've never used it up until now in actual combat. But I assure you, as always I recover fast. I'll be fully ready for whatever you throw at me." She was breathing heavily, but she spoke the truth, and he knew she would be fine shortly.

Shaking his head to bring himself back to his senses, he began the handseals for his jutsu. It was an extremely complex one, and he refused to screw up. Not in front of all the audience, not in front of the hokage, not in front... of her.

Zal stared unseeingly down at the arena. What Yuki had just done was by no means something he had never done. He had often done it, though usually when he transformed into a dragon it was because he didn't want them to see his true identity. The half human, half dragon was something he hadn't actually used in years. The thing that shocked him was that he hadn't even taught her how to... no. He hadn't even given her knowledge of its existence. Which meant that she had discovered it by herself. Truly amazing. He had planned on teaching her about it on her next birthday.

He smiled to himself. It was turning out she was needing him less and less. Soon she wouldn't need him at all. After all, any knowledge she needed she could pretty much ask her inner dragon about. Despite that hers hadn't been alive as long as his, eight hundred years was more than enough experience to get her through this life.

He felt Maemi place her hand on his shoulder, obviously as proud of their daughter as he was. He reached back to pull her into his arms as he always did, only to end up grasping empty air. "Thats right, Maemi is dead. She wasn't really here just now. She wasn't really about to embrace me again. I'm just daydreaming, yeah thats it daydreaming. I think I need some fresh air." Rising he walked slowly out of the arena. So intent on his thoughts he didn't even feel the spike of disappointment coming from his daughter, as she saw him leave.

Yuki's disappointment was matched by by Akira's. The one person who he wanted to see this match the most just left. Perhaps he just didn't want to be there when one of them lost, as it might be to painful to watch either one lose. That had to be it, he was sure. Even so, he and Yuki had promised, they were going to fight to the end of it. If Zal wasn't watching then so be it. Now it was Akiras turn to show all his progress. Everyone had come to see a good fight. And he was going to make sure everyone got their moneys worth out of it. Akira closed his eyes, preparing once again to use his jutsu. As soon as his preparations were complete he opened them and smiled. **Flying Thunder God Jutsu!**

**AN: Well took me long enough but I got it. So who do you think is going to win? The legendary Yondy, or am I going to be like so many authors and make my OC like unbeatable? Who knows. I do, or do I? Perhaps I will decide afterwards. Send me reviews, I'm curious who you think will win! Lemme know!**

**Now for my jutsu list because I introduced a whole 2 jutsus this chappie.**

**Fire Style: Restraining Serpent Jutsu**

Chunnin level jutsu. This jutsu forms a snake out of fire that erupts from the users mouth to bind an opponent. The theory of the jutsu isn't actually very complex but the skill required to not burn yourself is actually higher than one might think. Not commonly used as practicing it usually ends up leaving the user with a sore throat.

**Flying Thunder God Jutsu**

Anbu level jutsu. This jutsu literally teliports the user from one place to another, at high speeds enabling the user to attack multiple targets at one, or one target from multiple directions. It also requires seals to be placed on certain objects, as those objects are what they teliport too. In actuality the user can teliport in a radius of 5 meters around said object. This jutsu is rarely used as not only is it extremely difficult to master, but the objects said seals are placed on, are often easy to lose. One other side effect is that teliporting from place to place is different that simply speeding up, therefore this jutsu can often cause the user to get disorientated.


	16. Into the Void

**AN: I wanted to thank everyone who has replied thus far to my story, despite that I may seem slow you guys really motivate me. And especially those who have replied ever since I first started I wanted to thank you extra. You have no idea how great it is to have regulars comment. Warm happy feeling. READ AND REVIEW! Those who don't shall be smitten by Akira's Rasengan! To the face no less. Ph34r t3h R4s3/\/g4/\/!**

_Yuki's disappointment was matched by by Akira's. The one person who he wanted to see this match the most just left. Perhaps he just didn't want to be there when one of them lost, as it might be to painful to watch either one lose. That had to be it, he was sure. Even so, he and Yuki had promised, they were going to fight to the end of it. If Zal wasn't watching then so be it. Now it was Akiras turn to show all his progress. Everyone had come to see a good fight. And he was going to make sure everyone got their moneys worth out of it. Akira closed his eyes, preparing once again to use his jutsu. As soon as his preparations were complete he opened them and smiled. **Flying Thunder God Jutsu!** _

**Into the Void**

Yuki eyes widened. No way he had completed one of the most difficult jutsu's they had ever heard of. Impossible. "I hope your ready Yuki. I'm coming." Yuki got over her surprise and smiled a bit on her own. Even if he had mastered it. He was going to find out why the sealmasters were feared. This was their ultimate form. Zal hadn't taught her this, but she had learned about it in his personal library.

Akira pulled out another three pronged kunai and disappeared reappearing behind Yuki, only to disappear as her tail swept through the air his head had been occupying. The dance had begun, Akira blinking in and out of existence around Yuki as her tail and lasher played the deadly rhythm that is called battle. Akira would appear only to throw another wave of shuriken then disappear again. Yuki was whirling around at speeds that could only be described as mind blowing. Everything he sent at her was deflected, in a seemingly perfect defense.

Akira considered his options. Yuki's speed had obviously gone over triple over what she normally was at. Eventually he was going to run out of shuriken and kunai. Fire wouldn't help much. "I guess its time to start getting creative." Akira decided it was time to stop using distance and projectiles, as they were obviously not working. "Close combat will be what I test first."

Akira blinked in near Yuki just under her left side and threw a jab at her kidney. Yuki brought her left elbow down and blocked, then jabbed her lashers handle at his face. He blinked out of the way, reappearing on her other side and threw a kick at her face. Yuki brought her left hand over and caught it then whirled her lashers blades around at him with her right. Blinking out again he appeared again above her in a somersault and brought down a dropkick on her head. Yuki's face hit the ground with enough force to make a mini crater in it. However before Akira could take advantage of it, her tail came at him knocking him flying.

They were both on their feet again in a second. However Yuki was changing the battlefield. "So Akira, I'm assuming that you can blink to where those kunai are, regardless of in the air or on ground am I right?" He nodded slowly wondering what she was getting at. She smiled again. "Well then I think its time to up this fight a notch. Shall we?" not even waiting for an answer she fully opened her wings, and took the the air. "On the ground I'm able to keep on par with even a chunnin I'm guessing. But the air is my battlefield, here no one will touch me. Let the real fight begin."

After she finished she puffed up her chest for a second than spat giant fireballs down into the arena. In a flash Akira gathered up all his three pronged kunai and sent them flying towards her in the air, then began his own dance again. The advantage he had in the air was he could attack from all angles now, but he soon found out she wasn't joking when she said the air was her battlefield. Her defense had been seemingly perfect before, now seemingly was taken out of the sentence.

However Akira wasn't the type to give up, and he wanted to see if she had to adhere to all the same rules as other flying creatures. He gained some distance from her and did several hand seals. **Wind Style: Howling Vortex jutsu!**

An enormous wind erupted from his mouth and screamed towards Yuki. However the results were not as expected. Instead of messing her up, and possibly sending her to the ground she simply flew with the currents as if they were no bother. Laughing she remarked "Haha ha ha Akira. Our clan comes from the mountains, wind is something they not only dealt with, but it was one of the things that they actually enjoyed. WE USE THE WIND TO MOVE AT SPEEDS YOU CAN'T IMAGINE!"

Akira didn't stop his jutsu, but began to modify it. He cupped his hands in front of his face, and it looked like he was catching the wind and holding it in hands on first observation. But in reality he was simply letting it fade, and starting a new jutsu entirely. Yelling loudly he used both hands to "fling" the gathered wind at her. Everyone in the stadium heard his jutsu. **Wind Style: Howling Blades jutsu!**

Yuki had actually moved below him without realizing it. Watching Akira she noticed something in the background. Her advanced eyes looked closer and noticed another person who's form was similar to hers. He was much higher than them, but she immediately recognized that particular hue of crimson scales. Zal was watching them after all. Without realizing it her eyes began to fill up with tears slightly. He really was watching them. Suddenly it felt like a plug had been pulled, like power than she had been holding back without realizing it was suddenly released. Truly before now it had just been fun and games. Now they were going to fight all out.

Raw chakra began to literally fill the air as she let her demon side take over. It was so strong you could literally see it. The knowledge of several hundred years was now in the one fighting Akira. His blades of wind were absorbed by the chakra surrounding her as if they were nothing. He stood no chance she was sure, but she had promised no holding back. And therefore this was her at her best. Akira saw all this. He saw Yuki looking up, saw her start to cry slightly, then suddenly she looked less like the Yuki he knew, and more like some demon. The raw lust for combat could be felt in the air. It was something like he had felt in Zal occasionally, the love for combat that was untainted by anything. He could feel it, she was going to attack him until one of them stopped moving. For one second only, he felt a twinge of fear. This was some other being who he was fighting, someone who possibly might even kill him given the chance.

Yet it didn't matter. They had prepared for years for this, he felt that. It felt like all the years of training had been for this moment. Nothing was going to interfere. At that point they both felt like they had sealed the deal, and rushed eachother. Unfortunately for Akira, Yuki moving so fast he could barely keep track of her with his eyes.

The best idea he had for countering someone he could barely see was to move at speeds similar, even if he wasn't really able to see where he was moving. He improvised and use a technique that Zal used. He pulsed waves of chakra out as a way to sense where he was going. He had no practice at all with it,and it turned out much more difficult to do than he had imagined. And it was a constant drain on his chakra. But first he had to avoid her attacks, in order to figure out a way to beat her, and if that took a bit of chakra then so be it.

He flashed slightly higher above her and sent a drop kick at her, which she blocked with her left arm, he flashed below her and sent a jab at her side, but had to break it off to avoid a sweep from her tail. He flashed to he right and spun a kick at her face, only to flash away when she blocked with her left hand, an sent a right backhand at him.

Everything he sent at her seemed unable to reach her, even flashing close simply wasn't fast enough to touch her. Then he came up with a way that he just knew was going to work. But it meant he would lose unless he got lucky. Extremely lucky. It was dangerous to the point he might even die, which scared him just a little bit more than before.

And yet it gave him a rush in a way he couldn't explain. All he knew was that this was it. The climax of their fight. No matter what this final move was going to end it. He smiled. He wondered if everyone felt this way when using this sort of strategy.

He flashed beneath Yuki and feinted a punch at the area between her wings. He knew it was coming and braced for the impact, even so the actual strength of the blow from her tail totally floored him. As he started plummeting towards the floor of the area he readied his justu, his final one. This time was different, the force he was going to put into it would be more than anything he had ever done before. Despite the fact he had been using the flying thunder god jutsu all their battle, his chakra was still slightly above half. He had been training on equal ground with a demon container almost his entire life. So his remaining reserves were still slightly above that of an average gennin who hadn't used any yet. And he put nearly all this remaining chakra into this, there was no getting up from this. If he made impact on his target then it was likely they would both be knocked out from the impact. But he didn't care it was all for this. Everyone would see what he was capable of from this.

Using the speed of his descent he flashed above Yuki and moved at her at the same speed he had been falling. He watched as she didn't even seem surprised, and simply threw up her arms to block. Which was fine with him, because he wasn't intending to actually hit her. As he got about two meters away from her she realized his intention and stopped blocking, in order to attack him before he managed to accomplish his goal. To late though as he had already done what he intended to do. He deconstructed the side of his Rasengan that was facing her in a way that he already knew the result.

What was the result? The Rasengan self destructed, in the air as both of them were hit by the impact from the shockwaves that sent them both plummeting to the ground. While due to how it he deconstructed it, it was obvious that Yuki took the main impact, he still took quite a shock to his system from it. This time it was quite obvious to the judges that both of them had lost consciousness, and were incapable of stopping their own descent. The judges quickly jumped into action to catch them before the hit the ground.

However Akira managed to regain some slight measure of himself and realized what was going on, refusing to let Yuki get hurt, as he didn't notice the judges he used what small measure of chakra he could to flash closer to her. He then managed a weak Rasengan and braced for the impact to the ground. For Akira time seemed to slow, and it was like watching everything in slow motion. The ground was a mere few meters below him moving at what seemed like only an inch per a second. He felt his weakened Rasengan impact the ground. He felt as it expanded pushing his arm back into the air, but as his body continued to move downwards. He felt his arm dislocate, and the bone in his shoulder penetrate the skin, and shatter on the way. The pain wasn't instant, instead it seemed to travel slowly from his hand up his arm, then spread out like a virus throughout his body, like it was infecting it with a poison.

He watched as the medic nin's ran full speed towards them yet seemed to take hours to actually make it there. He recognized the one moving fastest. Tsunade in the forefront, followed by someone who obviously wasn't a medic nin, Jiraiya ignoring the others and attempting to get there first. Vaguely he wondered where Zal was. But his mind seemed to be unable to retain any thoughts for long, like a cup without a bottom, unable to retain water. His last thought before the blackness overtook his mind, was wondering if Yuki was ok.

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Zal soared the skies breathing in the air. He felt a tug on his mind, like someone attempting to find something. He immediately closed his mind to the outside, refusing to let anyone inside. Any other time he would had noticed it was Yuki seeking reassurance, but at the moment his mind was clouded in thoughts that refused to be interrupted. Every now and then his arms would move of their own accord like they were carrying something unseen. The person who had once taken all his time occupied more and more again, even though she no longer was with him. Vaguely his heightened senses detected sounds of combat below him, but they didn't register to him.

Any medical person trained in people who were losing their sanity would have given him a stamp on the forehead for a loony asylum if they could even peek into his thoughts. His moods switched several times every few minutes, and it was getting worse as years went on. One second he was thinking calmly about the past, the next he felt such a strong urge for combat he would deliberately search out a fight with the first thing he could find. The next he would seem perfectly normal, so much so most people would think he was a teacher of some sort, as knowledge had suddenly become his biggest priority. A minute later he would become an egotistical jerk who saw everything and everyone as trash.

Somewhere in the world there were people in the world who studied this kind of person. The teacher there told his students about many of the things that caused this. _"People who go through these mood swings, often times are effected by the loss of something or someone important to them. Sometimes in their past their personality changed drastically after a certain event, such as meeting your significant other. Then say that person dies your mind becomes unstable. A part of your mind wants to go back to how you were before, to forget the pain of losing this person, however another part refuses to let go, and will cling on as if for dear life. People who are effected in this manner, the only possible cure would be to reunite with the person that they lost. Which obviously would be impossible if that person died. For those effected so, will eventually become a danger to themselves and everyone around them. Eventually they will lose all touch with reality, once this happens there is no chance of recovery, regardless if that person who they cared about resurfaces or not."_

Perhaps these doctors far away were correct, many of the things they had predicted about this sort of person had already happened in Zals head. Often times he lost touch with reality. Sometimes for hours he would converse with Rukia, only to realize at the halfway through that she wasn't Maemi. Secretly she suspected he was losing his sanity. But she refused to tell anyone. If she brought him back to himself she was so sure he would fall in love with her.

As things stood she knew he didn't love her and wasn't about to. For now she humored him all the while trying to study of a way to bring him back from his ever growing abyss without help from anyone. She knew what a fine line she was treading. One mistake and he would fall past redemption, but to soon and he wouldn't see her as something he needed. Neither was an acceptable option to her. No matter what she would never give up on him.

Zal eventually came down from his "Cloudy" thoughts. And tried to remember what he had been doing before he before he took off for the skies. Suddenly it came to him that Yuki and Akira had been about to fight. He hoped they hadn't started yet. He would hate to miss a fight where they both went all out. He didn't realize that it had been about noon when their fight began, and it was late evening now. The sun was already setting. He hurried to the arena only to find it nearly deserted.

He found a few people who were hanging around talking about the excitement of the battles, and he called out to them. "I'm sorry, it seems I missed the fight between Yuki Ukriz and Akira Tsykin. Would you mind telling me who won?" The young teenagers glanced at eachother. "Missed it? That was hours ago. And Akira won, since he was the last one awake, and injured himself to protect that girl. They both got sent to the hospital right after the match. Frankly I kinda thought she was cute before she turned into that winged lizard thingy. That was just gross. Now I know what my dad meant by all women have an ugly side to them, no matter how cute."

The hairs on the back of Zals neck raised slightly at the comment of being called a lizard. Creatures as noble and honored as dragons reduced to being compared to lizards. These kids weren't even ninjas, but they felt the change in the air. Like it had suddenly gotten colder. They hurried off mentioning something about needing a jacket for the upcoming fall season. September was mostly over.

Zals mind calmed slightly and he thought back to where they said they had been sent to the hospital. He had to see if they were ok. He couldn't sense Yuki's mind, although if she was simply unconscious then that would explain it. Then it occurred to him. Her form would still be as it was before. The jutsu she used didn't reverse itself, even after the user lost consciousness. He had to hurry and find her before she died from chakra exhaustion. They said the hospital, he had been there once or twice. He hurried over there as fast as he could.

Upon his arrival he found Tsunade in the lobby talking to the receptionist. "Tsunade where is Yuki and Akira?" He wasn't very polite about it, and although she could understand that as a parent he was worried, she was also upset that he hadn't been there when they went to recover them. When she saw them fall from the sky she had half expected him to jump out in the arena regardless of the rules to catch them. When that hadn't happened she was a bit surprised, but when he hadn't even shown up with the rest of them after they had reached the ground she was shocked. And when they reached the hospital and several hours had passed and he still hadn't shown up she was speechless. Everything she had heard about him was that his daughter came before anything. She had even checked to make sure he hadn't been off on some mission, and found out that not only had he not had any missions today, but he had been at the arena. Several people who knew his face had seen him there, and even seen him leave just before Yuki's and Akira's fight.

And now he had the gall to be rude to her when he hadn't even been there. She was about to let him have a piece of her mind when he slammed his hand down on the counter. Obviously it had only been meant to get an answer quickly, by making a loud noise. But apparently he hadn't been monitoring his strength, and it shattered the counter into pieces. For one of the few times in her entire life Tsunade just lost anything she was about to say. She just stood there with one hand raised and a finger pointed at him with her mouth slightly opened as she was about to tell him off. But nothing came out. She just continued to stand there. No words came out.

What surprised her wasn't that he could destroy the counter, she could do that with one finger. What surprised her was that he used no chakra to do so. Someone like him whos build was so slender, it was unthinkable that he could crush a counter as sturdy as this one with just brute force.

The trembling receptionist said just barely loud enough to be heard. "U-u-u-um, they are in room two thirty seven. P-p-p-please follow me." without another word she hurried down the hall half hoping he would follow, and half scared that he would. Good or not he did follow, although his heavy footsteps told her she was walking to slowly. Once they got to the room he pushed her out of the way and slammed the door open. She hurried back to her "Modified" desk as fast as she could, at least as fast as she could wearing the hospital uniform.

Meanwhile the doctors all looked at the person who so rudely opened the door while they were talking, without even knocking. Some of them opened their mouths to reprimand him when Jiraiya stepped forward silencing them all. He walked and stood facing Zal quietly. Zal could sense a cold fury emanating from him but at the moment he really didn't care. He opened his mouth to demand to see Yuki and Akira when Jiraiya let loose a full powered punch into his face. The result was Zal getting sent through the opened door and into the hallway, leaving a crack in the wall as he made impact.

"How dare you have completely abandoned them both for one of the biggest days of their lives, and then come barging in here like you own the place! What the hell is your issue? You didn't even try to seek them out till now?! It's been nearly seven hours and only now you show yourself. I don't even want your excuse. Tell it to them, I'm sure you will find it much more difficult to give them a plausible explanation that if you tried to explain to me." With that Jiraiya walked off. Unwilling to talk to Zal anymore.

Silently Zal got up, and waited as Jiraiya walked out. Then Zal walked back in the room, as the doctors all had smirks on their faces. Silently laughing at the man who had just been told off by one of the greatest shinobi of the village. Secretly most people in the village had little or no respect for him. All the saw him as was a sword for hire. A man who had no real loyalties, someone who always worked for the highest bidder. And because of this very few actually trusted him. These doctors barely made the attempt to mask their dislike for him. That was ended very quickly when he glanced up at them. His eyes were completely black with red slits for pupils. His glare made them all suddenly a lot less hostile, and a lot more in the mood to be somewhere else.

They all suddenly found reasons to leave, all but one. The one actually taking care of Yuki and Akira. His obvious concern for her was apparent on his face. "We haven't been able to get her to transform back into her normal form. And the constant chakra consumption rate is going to kill her at this rate. Even Jiraiya and Tsunade have failed in all their attempts to reverse it. From our brief investigations this isn't like a mere transformation jutsu where her appearance changes. This actually changed her down to even her vital organs. We are at a loss here, I'm afraid we won't be able to do anything unless she wakes up and reverses it herself."

Zal walked over to her and performed several handseals and silently whispered the name of a jutsu before touching two fingers to her forehead. The effect was instant. Her body began to revert back to normal. The doctor stood in awe. It had been no medical jutsu that had changed her, and yet nothing in both Jiraiya's or Tsunada's knowledge of ninjutsu had any effect either. What knowledge did this man possess. This doctor unlike many of the other people wasn't concerned with Zal's loyalties or whether he could be trusted or not. He knew when he saw someone who had beyond his own years of experience. Zal obviously had more than the twenty eight apparent years that he looked.

But Zal wasn't interested in the doctor. He was interested in how Akira was doing as well. Now he knew Yuki was fine he went over to where Akira was. He had obviously sustained severe trauma to his right arm and shoulder. This had been treated, and he would fully recover in a few weeks thanks to Tsunades expertise.

Zal satisfied turned around to walk out when he noticed someone who's chakra seemed familiar, but the name didn't quite come to mind. The man spoke up "You seem to have much knowledge in ninjutsu, and seals. I've seen the record of what you regularly check out of the library, and the only thing you that you check out is information on seals. You see I am also very interested in them. There is much I would like to learn from you if you would be willing to teach me."

Zal's mood changed slightly to that of someone who had just been asked to impart from his vast mental library. His attitude took on that of a teacher, and he nodded his head. He walked out the door expecting the man to follow him. He would see how much this man already knew, and decide if he was worth teaching. The man followed without hesitation.

The doctor still in the room watched as they left. "It seems Orochimaru-sama saw the same hidden knowledge in that man that I did. I wish him luck, after all its only a matter of time till that man dies, such a shame if he were to leave this world without leaving his knowledge with someone worthwhile."

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The Kages from the different villages discussed the fight of Akira and Yuki even now. "The young man was brilliant, and if his teacher is to be believed then he must have created that jutsu by himself. Plus his knowledge of how to use such an advanced jutsu as the Flying thunder God jutsu, shows just how brilliant he is. Add on to that the fact that he was obviously outmatched in speed and strength, yet he still won. I would vote for him to be promoted to chunnin without hesitation."

Another Kage spoke up "True but the girl was also very impressive. For someone her age to have to ability to do what she did, well... I think its safe to say she could be more than a match for nearly any chunnin in the village. Possibly a few jounin if it was just a contest of speed and strength."

The Kage from Suna spoke up. "Perhaps but a contest of just pure speed and strength is rarely what will determine the outcome of a battle. As was shown by hers against that boy. Even though her speed and strength far outmatched him she still lost. I feel she has knowledge beyond her years when it comes to combat, but she didn't use that. Even with the obvious knowledge at her disposal, she stayed primarily a taijutsu fighter. No matter how great your taijutsu, unless your opponent is stupid, you won't stand a chance if thats all you use."

The Hokage spoke up. "I disagree, in our village we have an entire clan dedicated to taijutsu. And their mastery over it is undebatable. While they are capable of ninjutsu and genjutsu, they primarily use taijutsu. And you say that pure speed and strength isn't enough to win, while true perhaps, any jounin can beat pretty much any gennin with just Taijutsu. If your speed and strength outmatch your opponent enough then they will lose regardless of what strategies they can think of. True that she still needs improvement, however I think she is qualified to be promoted to chunnin."

For several hours more they discussed the matter of whether to promote one or both of them. Before continuing to talk on the other candidates as well.

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Zal was surprised at the knowledge this man had of seals. He found out quickly that it wasn't just a passing interest, but that this man had invested a lot of time into researching them. The man seemed especially interested in seals to augment someones strength, even at the cost of sanity, or personal health. Zal decided to give him a scroll on such seals. "This scroll has many such seals as you speak of. But you will find that most seals that augment someones abilities, are more effective if they are linked to someone else. Kind of like a queen bee. The most effective of this sort of seal actually will give the users a kind of loyalty towards this "Queen Bee" a kind that normally takes years to build up. The downside to this is that it will eventually erode their thoughts to the point that they become nothing more that puppets, which while some people may think this can be a good think, puppets can't make important decisions themselves. They become simple minded. After all the most effective warriors are those who can think on their own."

Orochimaru bowed his head silently thanking Zal for his unknowing help in an area he had been researching for several years. Mindless workers... that didn't sound so bad. True that warriors who could think would beat those who couldn't in one versus one combat, but with enough mindless warriors who fought without self concern, they would overpower any thinking warrior who actually cared about his life. And true that it would require more years than any one man had to gather a sufficient force for this, Orochimaru intended to live for more years than one man normally would. A jounin asked him once on a dangerous mission when he refused to take an action that would ensure the mission to be accomplished, but at the sacrifice of their lives. "What do you wanna live forever?" Orochimaru replied "Want? No. I fully intend to. Want is for those who don't plan to accomplish that goal." Orochimaru walked out as their night had come to a close. He had so much to do, and he fully intended to make sure that he had forever to accomplish those things.

Jiraiya and Tsunade talked further about the events that had occurred that day, when they heard a scream come from one of the rooms. The both rushed and found that the scream had come from Yuki. Tsunade checked her vitals and decided shortly that she was having a bad dream. However Tsunade discovered something unusual. Normally when people sleep, their body relaxes. But when their having a bad dream their bodies muscles tighten, often times making it to when they wake up they don't feel rested at all. However chakra is something that sleeping people just don't use. Yet Yuki was obviously using chakra, and a lot of it. Tsunade had thought that perhaps it was related to her earlier use of the jutsu which had changed her form, yet Zal had reversed it. So either one, he hadn't done a good enough job, or this was something else entirely. After some closer observation Jiraiya noted something that Tsunade had missed as she had only been checking from a medical standpoint. "It seems to Mr. Uneducated me, that she is under some sort of delayed genjutsu. I'm not expert obviously on medic issues but all of her reactions seem to point to this." Tsunade preformed several hand seals, before inserting chakra into Yuki in an effort to dispel a genjutsu. Yuki struggled slightly afterwards then relaxed. Tsunade sighed and told Jiraiya she was done talking for the night she was going to watch Yuki and Akira for the rest of the night.

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Yuki was dreaming again. One of the dreams she used to have frequently when she was little, but they had faded as time went on. The dreams of the night when her mother died. This time was different though. Normally it started with her mother taking her for a stroll in the flower garden when they would hear screams from inside the nearby buildings. Rushing inside they would see Iku covered in blood as he finished off one more person in the room. This time was different. She was alone walking in the garden, when she heard shouts.

She recognized both voices, her mother and father were fighting. That was odd because they never fought over anything. But their voices were unmistakable. The voices continued to get more and more heated until she ran inside to tell them to stop. But instead she went inside just in time to see Zal cut down his own wife with his claws. Yuki stared in complete shock. Zal appeared shocked as well as he stared down at his blood covered hands. He looked at the nearest clan member and yelled "This is all your fault!" and struck him down as well. He continued with every other person there until only Yuki remained.

"And you! If you had never been born non of this would have happened. No one would have been asking THOSE questions! This is all YOUR fault!" Yuki shook her head unable to believe what she was seeing. Zal rushed at her only to be stopped by Onaga. Onaga shook with the force of Zals attack but held his ground. Zal screamed "Out of my way son! You can't begin to image what has happened here."

Onaga shook his head "True I can't but I cannot allow you to kill my only sister either. Yuki's eyes filled with tears and her eyes got blurry as she watched the fight.

No matter who lost this fight she would be devastated. Finally it had come down to one last attack. One of the figures was preparing a powerful jutsu, but didn't have quite the chakra to complete it. Her meager chakra wasn't much, but it would be enough to help him finish she was sure. Activating her bloodline limit she sent as much chakra as she could to the person she felt was playing the hero's role. His jutsu finished and she watched as the other person had a hole blown through their middle, and landed on the floor dead as could be. Yuki dried her eyes in order to see who the victor was. Onaga lay on the ground without a breath of life in him. Zal looked slowly upwards at her. He flashed an insane grin before saying "Ok, now that that is taken care of. I'd say it's your turn. Black chakra engulfed his hand as he rushed forwards slashing her across her face. Shortly afterwards the images seemed to become distorted, and then slowly fade. Then quietly blackness seemed to set in, peaceful and without the disturbing images she had seen before.

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After Orochimaru left, Zal reminisced about times past. He was unsure of the cause but he was remembering back when Iku had been younger.

_Flashback_

_A figure was moving through a forest towards something. That figure was Iku. He was running towards a shadowy figure standing near a cliff. "Big brother! Big brother! Guess what I just found out!"_

_The figure near the cliff turned around to reveal the ageless Zal. His obvious superiority showed in ever aspect of his manner. A young man who was powerful and he knew it. He had reached a stage in his life where he was naturally strong, to the point he far outshone even those who had been around longer than he. He often flaunted his power, just to feel others bow in awe. His eyes shone with a brightness that told of how much he enjoyed being on the top of the proverbial food chain. "What is it that you found out little brother?"_

_Iku slowed up, slightly out of breath. "Have you ever tried to spell your name backwards?" Zal shook his head wondering just what it was Iku was getting at, and hoping it wasn't another pointless fact of life that didn't make a difference one way or another. "Well I actually took the time to spell mine backwards and researched what it meant! It was so cool! My full name is Iku Staka Bahamut. Well if you remove the Bahamut, and put together the other words you get Akatsuki, which means crimson clouds! Isn't that cool!"_

_Zal gave him a patronizing look "Why would it matter what your name means backwards? No one is ever going to call you by your name spelled backwards, and if you really cared about it why did you take Bahamut out of your name? Why not just leave it in the name when you spell it backwards?"_

_Iku looked surprised "Because when Bahamut is in it, it wont spell anything backwards." Zal shook his head sighing at the stupidity of this whole conversation. "Go away Iku I'm busy."_

_Iku glanced around "Doing what? Your just watching that boring valley down there. Who cares about that, it never changes anyways."_

_Zal found it ironic that he who considered watching the beauty of nature boring found spelling his name backards entertaining. He gave Iku a look that said he was pushing his patience. Iku ignored it and decided to go do something more interesting. Sometimes Zal wondered if they were really originally the same person. A simple experiment had created Iku. The "What if" philosophy, was the reason he existed._

_In reality Iku and Zal weren't brothers. But the same person. Their father Blacksoul Bahamut, had been curious about what would happen if one person was raised differently, if they would change drastically. So he had Zal at a very young age create about five perfect shadow clones. Unlike a regular shadow clone, these shadow clones were not to do some task and then disappear after they were done. Not only would Blacksoul get the chance to see if they would have different personalities but it would be good training to upkeep five shadow clones while doing everything else. The original kept the name of Zalagrim Neo Bahamut, and the others were given new names._

_At first it proved to indeed be extremely effective training. But they soon found out what a mistake they had made. After about twenty-five years the first of the clones died in an accident. Being clones of a demon they were obviously much stronger than normal shadow clones. But even so they were still much weaker than the original as they hadn't gained the power boost he had from devouring his own mother. Then shadow clones still can't take as much damage as the original. One of the clones had been sparing with another one when one of them slipped up and accidentally killed the other. The result caused all the remaining clones, as well as the original to fall to the ground from the sudden rush of twenty-five years of knowledge._

_All four remaining clones all reacted differently. One of them ran to the greatest library that was in possession of the Bahamut clan. And began researching a certain topic. One of the others suddenly decided it would be best to kill off the others to prevent the sudden burst of knowledge from killing himself and the original, a few hundred years down the road. He succeeded in killing two of the others but was unable to find the last one. However apparently Zal had, had the same idea, and showed up and killed that clone. Then he went off to search for the final one._

_Normally the creator of a shadow clone can dispel the clone with a mere hand sign. However has these clones had grown, they had evolved, and reduced many of the weaknesses of a normal clone. They didn't die as easily as a normal clone. They were immune to normal dispel techniques. And a few other things._

_Eventually he found the final clone practically buried in scrolls from the library. Zal had to ask what he was doing before he killed him as well. The clone replied "I may have found a way to change myself from being a normal shadow clone into something different. While I would be relatively the same, the knowledge rush upon my death would be gradual, instead of all at once."_

_This perked Zal's interest enough to see what it was this clone had found. After a great deal of research he found that it was more complicated than that. Normally a shadow clone doesn't have a soul, because it is nothing more than a copy. The idea this clone had, had, was to actually graft a soul into him, doing so would make him into an actual person, not just an advanced clone. And in actuality the knowledge rush wouldn't be gradual, it would be non-existent._

_It would take nearly one thousand human souls to be forged into a new soulstone. Most demons are born with a soulstone, but clones don't have one. By creating one for him, it would essentially make him as real as anyone else. They considered the other requirements and decided it was quite possible, and they went to work getting the required ingredients. After nearly a month they had everything they needed. For the one thousand souls, there was a small city nearby. It actually had closer to two thousand people in it, but a few extra souls would simply strengthen the stone, so as far as they were concerned it would be fine. Of course those people would have to die first for their souls to leave their bodies. So Zal massacred the city before collecting the souls for the jutsu._

_Afterwards Iku's personality had changed slightly, no longer was he the silent bookish type, but he had become fairly attached to Zal, not like he had been as a clone, but like an older brother. Surprisingly enough his element changed as well. While Zal was a shadow dragon, Iku began a thinder dragon. Eventually Zal stopped telling him not to call him older brother, as he obviously didn't listen. In time he even came to think of him as a little brother._

_End Flashback_

Zal thought about it. If only he had killed that last clone that day everything would still be fine. His wife and clan would still be alive. His thoughts once again trailed down the tract of what ifs, late into the night.

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The next day both Yuki and Akira had woken up, and Zal went into their hospital room to talk to them quietly. They gave him a report of what transpired in the forest of death, and he was deeply troubled. If Iku knew they were there then it was only a matter of time till he attacked again. Unless he thought they moved on and erased the records of them being there. No easy task even for him, although he had certainly done it before. Normally running from Iku would be the last thought on his mind, however with Yuki to worry about he would take no chances.

Excusing himself he went home to think about what course of action he would take. Iku would expect them to move. And have scouts keeping tabs on who left and where they went. Also leaving meant taking Akira with them or leaving him alone with no family at all. Also not an option. So what other options did he have. Scouring his memory he suddenly remembered a special jutsu. The difficulty and complexity of it was above kage level. If anything it was above most tailed beasts levels. Probably only six tails and up would be capable of preforming it. Which meant the amount of chakra required would make him have to remove two seals and drain every ounce of chakra he had jus to preform it. Doing so would probably incapacitate him for a month or so, him the guy who cold shake off a lost limb in a few hours. But if it got Iku off their tracks for a few years or longer it would be worth it.

He walked down to the basement. This jutsu required a seal, but it was one he couldn't create with his bloodline for a special reason. Unlike normal seals this one wasn't created with just chakra. This seal had to be created... with blood. And even if that was the case it wouldn't be to hard for him, blood flowed like water as far as he was concerned. It had to be the blood of the user. In other words his own blood. And the seals size once complete would completely cover the floor and all the walls as well as the ceiling of the basement. Even for him that was an incredible amount of blood. Even with his massive physical regeneration it would take him days to complete. Which meant he had to start right away, no interruptions would be permitted.

Locking the door he began. If he screwed up even slightly he would have to use shadowflame to completely erase the entire seal. And start over again. However seals was his hobby in life, and had been for years. He didn't screw up even slightly. He worked for a week without stopped to rest, calling upon his massive stamina reserves to help him finish.

Finally he finished it and drooped to the floor for a second. A slight rest would be required before he continue with the hard part. The first part was mainly time consuming. This next part was the part that would kill most anyone who even attempted it. Not that humans could anyways because of the basis of its creation. He sat in the middle and began the chants required to activate the jutsu.

Yuki had just gotten home with Akira from the hospital. She had recovered much sooner than him however training without him just seemed boring. So she pretty much just sat in bed all day pretending she wasn't completely better yet. Akira on the other hand had been wanting to get out as soon as possible. Some people explained he had to have fire ants breeding on his backside for him to be so "Antsy". When they finally got the ok to leave he practically dragged Yuki out at a speed that made most people think he was a stampede. They were greeted at the door by Rukia, and she had a worried look on her face. "Zal has been in the basement the last week and hasn't come out. He won't come to the door and has it locked. I'm really worried what if something happens down there?"

Both Yuki and Akira were curious what was going on so the decided to investigate. Going over to the door they knocked and managed to be just as ignored as Rukia. Yuki tried to reach out to him through their bond, but all she got was a sense of deep concentration However the level of it bothered her. Zal was the sort who even if he was concentrating on the task at hand, he always kept a small measure alert for possible threats. No matter what he was doing. Not so now, at that moment he had absolutely no awareness towards anything but the task at hand. For him to be doing that meant something big was happening, and she was determined to find out what.

She looked at Akira and an unspoken agreement passed between them. They would break down the door and find out what was wrong, suddenly they heard chanting. And it was coming form the basement. For them to actually be able to hear it meant it was loud. Really loud. They then heard something. A loud noise then silence. They glanced at each other then noticed something strange. It had just been midmorning, maybe early afternoon at the latest. Yet the sunlight had faded. They looked out a window to see the sun just finishing setting. Theres no way the day ended in a few minutes. The glanced alarmed at eachother. This had to have something to do with Zal's jutsu they both knew it. They rushed to the door and kicked it in...

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Zal had already released the first seal and the second just fizzed out from the massive amounts of chaka he was forcing through it. The third one was barely holding, but he had enough to complete the jutsu now. He was now chanting the final parts of the jutsu at the top of his lungs, the seals on the walls glowing the dark red of his blood, when the name of the jutsu spilled from his lips. **Void element: Heavens Sealing!**

**AN: Dun dun dun da dun dun dan! (think final fantasy VII victory music.) I have done it! Completed this chapter which took me way longer than it should have. I kept changing things around at the last minute. Then had to go back and changed others as the first change made other things make no sense. (Not that I ever make sense anyways, though) Heavens sealing? OMG WTF?! does it actually mean seal heaven? Nope. If you recall the heaven and earth scrolls represent mind and body. This jutsu represents sealing of the mind. But whos mind? And what is he sealing in that persons mind? Now theres something special he he he he. Read next chappy to find out. Void element not to mention. An element normal humans don't even have access too. Hell even most demons don't.**


	17. Clash of the Biju

**AN: THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS SENT ME REVIEWS! well it's been awhile I know, but I'm going to start putting out chapters more consistently now, as I have about 2 hours per day at work when theres nothing to do, so i'll be writing then. READ AND REVIEW! There is going to be TWO chapter 17's. This one and an alternate, then i'm going to base part 2 of the story based on what chapters you guys pick. So in other words, until theres at least 10 votes for one or the other then I'm not going to even start writing the next chapter.**

Zal had already released the first seal and the second just fizzed out from the massive amounts of chaka he was forcing through it. The third one was barely holding, but he had enough to complete the jutsu now. He was now chanting the final parts of the jutsu at the top of his lungs, the seals on the walls glowing the dark red of his blood, when the name of the jutsu spilled from his lips. Void element: Heavens Sealing!

**Clash of the Biju **

Yuki glanced over after the door fell in. Pure silence ensued. "Minato I got the feeling something bad happened. Lets hurry."

Akira/Minato nodded and hurried down the stairs after her. What they found was Zal laying unconscious on the floor, with both horns and a tail in plain sight. Although unlike the forms both he and Yuki had used before, which had scales this form didn't. This form seemed perfectly normal except the wings and horns.

Minato glanced at all the seals covering the walls. "This looks like... blood. What the hell did he do that required this degree of... well all these seals."

Yuki shook her head I don't know, but whatever it was it took enough chakra to knock him out cold. "We need to get him to Tsunade as soon as possible. Although this current state may be bit strange to most people. We'll use a minor genjutsu just so people won't notice at least till we reach the hospital."

Minato nodded then said "What about all these seals? We can't just lock the door, it's kinda busted."

Yuki glanced up and realized he was right. "Well we will just tell Rukia not to come downstairs, and not to let anyone else in the house till we get back. That should work for now." Minato nodded and they each draped one of Zals arms on their shoulders and began to carry him to the hospital. Stopping just long enough to tell Rukia.

Arriving at the hospital the specifically requested Tsunade. The woman at the front desk was going to tell them that there were plenty of other capable medic nin on hand to see to the patient, when she noticed it was the guy who destroyed her last desk a week ago. After a slight squeak she told them to follow her and rushed off to find Tsunade. They found Tsunade in the third floor taking care of someone who had a bad case of food poisoning.

"Tsunade-sama theres some people here who requested you in specific." Tsunade turned around and noticed them carrying Zal, who was obviously completely unconscious. Tsunade quickly helped them get him onto a bed then wheeled him to a private room.

It was obvious that a genjutsu had been hastily placed on him to hide something. She dispelled it and caught her breath. Unlike the transformation jutsu Yuki had used before, this wasn't a change of ninjutsu. This was something else entirely. After a thorough examination she was even more perplexed. Everything seemed perfectly natural for him. It was as if the wings were something all humans were meant to have, yet didn't. And the horns didn't seem to have been grown recently or anything, more like they had always been there. And unlike Yuki's form previously, this one wasn't draining any chakra that she could tell. About the only thing that didn't confuse her was that his unconsciousness was caused by chakra exhaustion. A common side effect of training or preforming jutsu past your limit. Closer inspection also revealed he had bad cause of mental trauma as well, possibly caused by whatever jutsu he had been preforming.

Shaking her head in confusion she stated the facts she had found out to Yuki and Minato. They were obviously relieved and as far as mental trauma went, they figured that was perfectly normal for any ninja who had seen as much death as he had in his past. However Tsunade said one more thing to catch their attention. "Before you go theres something you should know. While chakra exhaustion is a common thing for ninjas. This might not be so simple. I'm not certain but this may very well take more than just a week to recover from. This may far longer. I don't know what he did to exhaust himself this greatly, but I'm going to request a Hyuuga to come have a look and see if there are any other damages incurred to his body. Frankly I've never seen anyone this low on chakra and actually survive."

That took their worries up a notch. Zal taking an entire week would be unusual. More than that sounded extremely bad. Tsunade gathered the information from them to put on his medical information sheet. The list went as follows:

Name: Zalagrim Uzumaki

Reason for hospitalization: Chakra Exhaustion, Mental Trauma (Possible head injury)

Age: 27

Bloodtype: Unable to determine

Most likely Remedy: Rest

Unusual Genetic Issues: Wings protruding from back, and horns from forehead

Once Tsunade was able to get ahold of the Hyuuga she wanted she brought her to his room. The Hyuuga was a female who while not allowed to actively study medicine, was well versed in human anatomy. The Hyuuga mentioned something very unusual. "Tsunade-sama here's something you might find interesting. His entire body is covered in seals. But thats only a side note. When I activate my Byakugan I can no longer see his wings. It's as if they don't exist. Yet when I turn it off I can see them as clear as you can."

Tsunade did find that interesting. Every Medical jutsu she had used confirmed they were there. Hell she could feel them with her hands. Yet the All seeing eye known as the Byakugan couldn't see them? Very odd. "What are the odds that you can't see them because a genjutsu?"

The Hyuuga was silent for a second. Then replied "It is possible, although unlikely. The Byakugan can see though all but the most powerful genjutsu. Although at this point perhaps that is the most realistic cause. Perhaps one of the seals on his body makes his body appear to be that of a normal human. Although I fail to see why it would only effect the Byakugan and not regular vision as well."

They were both silent as they thought about it, then they reached the conclusion at the exact same time. Unless the genjutsu was designed specifically to fool the Byakugan. Suddenly both of them were interested. If there was something he wanted to hide, he had failed miserably when it came to his wings and horns. But they had seen those before, so that must mean he was hiding something else entirely. The Hyuuga spoke up first "Tsunade what are the odds of you letting me remove those seals to see just what he is hiding? It could be a matter of security for Konoha after all."

Tsunade shook her head. "Regardless, he has proved up till now that he is nothing but trustworthy to Konoha. I can't allow tampering with a patients body for anything but that to help him get better. Besides for all we know some of these may very well be keeping him alive. I'm not willing to take any risks in this. I thank you for your time."

The Hyuuga nodded regretfully, obviously still wanting to know just what he was hiding, although more for curiosities sake than anything else. As she walked out she said one last thing "Oh by the way Tsunade-sama, you might want to fix his medical list. It fairly obvious hes not twenty seven years old. I'd say nineteen to twenty at most. Good day."

As she walked out Tsunade turned around to see what she was talking about, and gasped. She hadn't even noticed. He looked just as young as he had the day she first saw him. And if the only genjutsu he was using fooled the Byakugan, and this was what he really looked like. Why was he pretending to look older normally? This man was shrouded in so many mysteries, that she just was dying to know. Yet she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt there was no way in hell he was going to clear any of those up for her. But one thing made sense now more than ever. At times she had wondered when they first met just how someone as young as him had managed to become as famous as a headhunter as he had. But if he didn't age at all, then perhaps he had, had more time than any of them realized. One thing she was going to ask him when he woke up, regardless of the odds of him saying no. If he knew the secret for eternal youth, she would be damned if she didn't choke it out of him.

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Zal was in the basement and just activated his jutsu. He heard Yuki and Akira bang down his door. With his hearing it would have been impossible not to. Of course the instant his jutsu took effect they stopped moving, as did everyone else in Konoha. He braced himself for the shock of what was about to happen. Even so he still gasped under the pressure. Every memory of every person in the entire village of Konoha, rushed into him like he was a dam holding water. Then he began to sift. He sent back all regular memories to everyone that had nothing to do with him or his family. However every single memory that either him, Yuki or Akira were in he checked carefully, and modified. He changed the name everyone remembered him and Yuki by from Ukriz, to Uzumaki. The maiden name of his late wife. Iku didn't know the name as he had never cared enough to learn it.

While he was sifting through memories he stumbled on Jiraiya's. Jiraiya had just discovered Akiras true name was Minato, Namikaze Minato. Zal knew it would be easier for Akira to adjust to his new name if he and everyone else remembered nothing else. So everyone who had ever met him forgot the name Akira Tsikyn, and remembered Minato Namikaze instead.

Then to further change their background so that they would be harder to trace he changed it so everyone remembered them coming from the village hidden in the mist, with his wife, who died shortly after they arrived.

On a spur of the moment he also purged the memories of those outside his family who knew he was blind. They wouldn't remember that little detail, they didn't need it.

For the final change, he remade it so no one knew he was the eight tailed hunter. As far as they knew he was just a skilled freelancer who hired on there.

There was a few other things he intended to change, but darkness began to cloud his vision and he lost control over his jutsu. Movement returned to the people of konoha. He heard the confusion of people who wondered how suddenly time had passed to quickly. Vaguely he wondered just how much time had passed. It only felt like a few hours, but based on the massive chakra drain he was unsure. He could feel another side effect of forcing the change of so many peoples memories so quickly. The mental strain was horrendous. Waves of pain began to build inside his skull. After what felt like hours more, (even though it was only a few minutes) he lost coherence and slipped into darkness, the noise of eight years of memories of the Konoha villagers, all attempting to crowd themselves to the front of his thoughts. Fighting for dominance, like rats all attempting to be the last one to drown.

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After over a month since they had brought Zal to the hospital, he regained consciousness. Tsunade was onhand when he suddenly woke up. They had been getting worried. Even though they had been feeding him through a tube for the last month his body refused the nutrition. His body would accept about as much as a bird would eat, and flush the rest out. The entire month his body continued down the path of no return. His chakra slowly returned, but his physical strength didn't.

When he woke his breathing was shallow, and ragged. His pupils were dilated and he seemed to have a hard time breathing. His skin was pale and sickly, but had been so for the last few weeks. Tsunade called for another nurse, and attempted to stabilize him. Suddenly a patient in the room next to him who had only broken a leg screamed out. A nurse rushed in to check on him to find him in convulsions, his eyes rolled up in his head. A young man probably in his early thirties, and no history in his family of heart problems, and right now he was having a heart attack. All the normal procedures were having no effect. Tsunade left Zal's side to check on the man herself. In less than a minute later he died. All the nurses and doctors around looked at eachother completely at a loss. None of them understood what had happened.

Tsunade preformed a basic autopsy, and determined that his heart attack had been induced by massive chakra concentrations from an outside force, directly into his heart. The only problem with that, was that to do something of the sort you had to be channeling chakra directly into him, in other words you would have been having to stand next to him the entire time. And she knew for a fact no one had done any such thing. Suddenly Tsunade glanced up. Zal had gone very quiet. What if someone had killed this patient in order to distract her attention while they did something to him?

Rushing back she found Zal sitting upright, and quite oddly nearly all the earlier issues she had seen in him were gone. His skin had nearly returned almost completely to normal, and his breathing was calm and even. Even his eyes looked normal again. Two miraculous events in mere seconds of eachother. Mere coincidence? She didn't believe in such things.

Stalking up next to him she grabbed his arm, and was greeted by a cold stare. "What the hell just happened here? One second you look like your about to die, then some patient one room away dies when all he had was a broken leg, then I come back here and your all better? Bullshit!"

Zal glanced dispassionately at her and using his free arm removed hers from his other one. Then he spoke. "Pity." glancing around he noticed none of his clothes were in the room. Deciding to find out their location later he calmly walked to the window and opened it. Tossing his hospital gown on the bed he leaped out the window and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Tsunade watched as he disappeared. She obviously couldn't tell where he went, but she had a pretty good guess. She hurried downstairs and rushed toward the end of town his house was on. He was going to answer at the very least two of her questions. She was going to make sure of that.

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Zal arrived at his house and quickly went to his room to get some clothes on. He had used a bit of chakra to give that man a heart attack, so he could gain the nutrition of his soul energy. He knew it would look suspicious, and he really didn't care. Once dressed he arrived downstairs to find Tsunade in his living room. "What can I do for you miss medic nin?"

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at the reference, because the way he said it, made it sound like she wasn't really a ninja. Regardless she ignored it and spoke. "I have a few questions for you, and your going to answer me, you owe me that much at least for keeping you alive."

Zal chuckled "Keeping me alive? Nothing you did made any difference. What kept me alive, was me. Period. I don't know what you used while I was out, but it would have changed nothing."

She had to admit to herself that everything she had tried had pretty much no effect. Although the fact that he obviously knew that proved that it wasn't due to her own incompetence, but that normal treatment simply didn't help him. But she refused to be sidetracked this easily. "Regardless, I have spent nearly a month watching over you. You will answer my questions. First off, a man who had only a minor injury died of a completely unrelated heart attack. What did you have to do with that?"

He looked at her in a way that said he was looking through her, she had never been comfortable with that. "A heart attack? Did it occur to you that maybe it was one of those once in a million events that happens for no reason?"

She snorted "I don't believe in events that happen for no reason. And if your not going to give me a straight forward answer on this then fine, I can't force you. Next question, how do you stay so young. You haven't aged even a year since we met about eight years ago."

Zal's eyes widened a bit. He had forgotten that the genjutsu he used to maintain the appearance that he aged would wear off when he was rendered unconscious. This would be interesting to explain. Then he noticed this wasn't the same as the last question. The last question she had been a bit angry, and demanding to know the reason a patient under her care had died. However now her heart rate had increased, and she was breathing heavily. Then he understood. She thought he had the secret for eternal youth. He silently laughed to himself. "No one who got eternal youth celebrated it a thousand years down the road. So many people wished for it, but only those that got it, knew it was actually a curse. Watching everyone around you grow old together as you were removed from it. All your loved ones died of old age while you watched even their children grow old and die. Eternal youth was no blessing. What you want is not eternal youth. All you really want is to look young till the day you die."

She scoffed at him "How would you know what I truly want? Everyone wants to live forever young. Its the dream of everyone, and if not at least every woman."

Shaking his head he replied You don't say. "Tell me this do you have anyone you love?" She nodded slowly wondering what he was getting at. Eternal youth is possible, but not for multiple people. "Do you want to watch your lover grow old and die? If you have children with him do you want to watch them all grow old and die? Do you really want to be the one who sees every person she has ever treated die? For those who gain eternal youth, all they see is the deaths of those they care about. I could teach you a simple genjutsu to make you seem young till the day you die. But you will still age."

She thought carefully on his words. It was true outliving her true love would be unbearable. And he said you couldn't make multiple people young forever. Outliving her younger brother would also be unbearable. In many ways he was a lot like Minato, although a bit younger. Finally she nodded her head, she would accept knowledge on how to simply look young. Perhaps living forever had its downsides. Suddenly she looked up and noticed the pain in his eyes. She realized he knew what it was like to outlive those around you. Already Yuki looked nearly as old as him. How hard would it be for him to watch her die of old age? To outlive you siblings would be hard, to outlive your lover would be harder still, but to outlive your own children? Suddenly she wondered why no one ever thought about the downside of immortality. Perhaps it was simply a nice dream to have, so you have something to see when you fall asleep.

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**Timeskip eight years**

In the village hidden in the sand, the Kazikage was furious. Every person they sealed the Shukaku in, had died. The power was too great, and they had to reseal him back in the vase. Onaga heard their failed attempts and roared his laughter loud enough for the entire village to hear. The fools didn't understand why no one was able to survive the sealing. Only he did, and their obvious lack of knowledge was very enjoyable. After their betrayal of him years ago, in an attempt to seal him as well, he enjoyed any opportunity to make fun of them, at their expense. Over the years his scales had grown black with the hate that now emanated from his very soul.

Finally the Kazikage had enough. "Whats so funny? You obviously know the reason we can't preform a successful sealing. Tell me."

Onage leaned forward. "Release me, and I will tell you everything you want to know." The Kazikage shook his head. There was no way he was going to give up a demon this powerful this easily. They would eventually figure out what they were doing wrong. Onaga saw that he had lost the chance of using that piece of information to get free. So he decided to taunt them with it. "Very well I'll tell you anyways. Only those with demon blood can successfully contain the spirit of a biju. Minor demons normal humans can contain, but biju are not minor. And I can tell you right now theres not a single person in Suna that has demon blood in their veins."

The kazikage glanced back at his son, the one who would take his place in a few years. Leave us, everyone leave I will talk to the demon alone, perhaps there is a way around this. After everyone left he turned and looked back at Onaga again. "How does one gain demon blood?"

Onaga shifted before replying. "A demon would have to impregnate a human, for that to occur. Should the human survive long enough to give birth the child should be capable of holding the chakra of of the biju."

The Kazikage was silent for several minutes, then he spoke again. "My son has a wife of about five years. An arranged marriage, so it would be all right for her. Would you give us a demonchild?"

Onaga inwardly growled at how despicable humans were. "Why should I cooperate with the ones who imprisoned me here? After everything you have done to me I have no reason to help you, besides mating with a human is one of the most vile things I can think of. Give me one reason why I should cooperate with you."

The kazikage refused to back down "For your freedom." Suddenly Onaga stood up on all fours. Now he was paying full attention. "If you give us a demonchild, I will free you, on the condition you never come back."

Onaga's voice thundered inside the chamber. "Fine, we will make a pact. If you attempt to break it I will devour your very soul, and you will spend an eternity inside my belly."

Hours later the pact was finished, Onaga changed his form to become more human. And waited for the human to come. The current kazakage told neither his son, or his sons wife what was going on. He merely said he needed her for half an hour. Once she discovered the reason she had been brought down there she attempted to escape. However the Kazikage overpowered her and chained her inside Onaga's circle. She never forgot that day, and she never forgave her village for betraying her.

Onaga would have felt sorry for her, but by now he despised all humans completely, and felt no pity for her at all. He swore that one day he would have the soul of the man who betrayed him, after all no one stays in their own country forever. Sooner or later he would leave, Onaga would wait for that day. This he promised himself as he flew away. He had whispered to her after they were finished what she would name the baby. "His name shall be Gaara, for he shall love no one, but himself. As there will be no human who loves him. The demonchild shall become a tool for killing, and his hair will match his thirst for blood."

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**Timeskip one year after Onaga's freedom**

The day was October seventh. The shinobi war had ended recently. All four of the great countries still suffered its aftereffects. And now was the time that seven people decided to make an appearance. They had waited years for this day. Their preparations were complete. The demonhunters were extremely powerful alone, together they were unstoppable. They were fully confident they could kill even one of the tailed beasts. And they were fully prepared to do just that.

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The day of Yuki's baby's birth was approaching. And Zal told them he would be back in a day or so with a demon suitable for sealing. He had just left intending to be back around the same time as it was born. Finally their legacy would be revived. Akira had achieved the position of Hokage. And no one in the village would have had it any other way. Time and again he proved his love for his village, a love that was second only to his love for his wife, Yuki. They had decided on the name of their unborn son, based on the one and only book Jiraiya had written that wasn't based on some erotic theme. The only book of his that Yuki herself was willing to read.

Zal was moving through the forest at an incredible speed. In mere hours he had gone as far as most can make it in day. And of course he wasn't even starting to get tired. Suddenly the tree he was about to land on exploded in white light. He raised his arms in frost of him to block the debris. Pieces of wood pierced his skin all over, but dissolved in his acidic like blood almost instantly, before the wounds closed themselves seconds later. Landing on the ground he found himself surrounded, by all seven demonhunters. Normally he would have welcomed the challenge, but he was in a hurry. He needed to get a demon to seal in his grandchild or it would die within twenty four hours of its birth. And he had no time to fight with these guys.

However they had no intention of letting him go. And they made that fully clear with the barrier that they instantly surrounded the area with. His only way out was to kill them, to cause the barrier to fail. There would be no holding back this time. Most his weapons he kept in scrolls in his pockets, to be summoned when he needed them. However his most prized weapon, the one he had forged himself, he kept sealed, on his back. Channeling chakra through the seal he summoned the sword that was forged with his and his fathers scales imbued in the steel. Due to his extreme resistance to heat he had actually forged it inside a live volcano. The hotter the temperature, the better quality the blade. And this was one of the finest ever created. The blade had a single hole near the hilt that looked to be made for something to be inserted, that something was his soulstone that he did not have with him. Even so this was his finest weapon. Something he had not used in years.

The demonhunters waited for him to make the first move. Unlike him they were in no hurry. They watched him draw his blade, the length was nearly ten feet, and the width reached one and a half feet. Then he rushed one of them they all reacted. Light** Style: Blazing Star jutsu!**

From their palms erupted a star made of searing light. As a demon, light was extremely effective against him, as a shadow dragon it was even more so. Dodging four out of the seven stars he was hit by the other three. Knocking him to the ground. His ears were ringing showing signs of damage there. His only way to see now was chakra. He got back to his feet and took up a defensive stance hoping to hold off long enough to get his hearing back.

Then he noticed there was only six demon hunters surrounding him. Widening his chakra radius he discovered the location of the seventh just as he burst from the ground and jabbed two fingers into Zals leg. Zal gasped as he felt a Genjutsu take effect on him. Suddenly he could see Iku again. Just as he cut down Zals wife. Zal knew this was just an illusion of his old memories. But then he saw it again. And again. Over and over. Over the years Zal had become more and more mentally unstable. Seeing this he was unable to convince himself it was just a genjutsu. Unable to break free. He screamed his anguish of being unable to do anything as he watched his wife being killed over and over again.

Outside the demonhunters watched as he dropped to his knees unseeing. "How unusual, guess he wasn't as powerful as you said Gaiden." The hunter known as Gaiden watched from a distance. The others walked near Zal fully confident that he was under their power. Gaiden wasn't so sure, perhaps he was just paranoid, even he didn't know. But there was no way in hell he was going to underestimate this guy.

One of the others smirked slightly. "Oh well, might as well start the exorcism. He will probably die once the demon his gone from his body, but its better to die as a human, than live possessed by a demon eh? These seals that are covering his body must be whats holding the demon within. Time to get to work." the others began to chant as he took several blessed blades out of their holders. Stabbing one through each seal on his body, he looked more like a porcupine than a human. Hah, hes definitely more powerful than you guys thought. A minor demon wouldn't even have managed to keep the human alive with all these blades sticking in his body. Theres got to be at least thirty five. Look the blood is even trying to eat away at blessed steel. they laughed as they listened to it hissing like acid.

One of the others stood up. Ok I'll remove the seals themselves. preforming several hand seals he jabbed two fingers in one of the seals. **Light Style: Seal Dispersal.**

The seal began to liquidate as if it was ink that had gotten to warm. One by one he purged the seals from Zal's body. Suddenly one of them stopped him and pointed. The blades that before and been unaffected by demon blood were suddenly being rapidly dissolved. This caused them all a bit of alarm. The blades were supposedly immune to demon blood, yet they were not proving to be so anymore. Gaiden standing in the back fell to the ground his hand shaking as he pointed. The others looked and noticed chakra leaking out from Zal. Which while that is perfectly normal for chakra to leak, its not to be able to see it. The chakra was seeping black and growing every second. They backed away. "Theres no way he can break out of that genjutsu, he needs someone from the outside to disrupt it. Whatever is going on now must be his reaction to it, and perhaps the removal of those seals. Although normally seal removal weakens the demons hold on the human. Why is that not the case now?"

Zal began to breath heavily and his body began to change. Horns sprouted from his head, which they had seen in other cases. And wings from his back, which they had also seen before. However unlike normally where you would find two or maybe three horns, he had eight. And his body was rapidly growing as it changed. Gaiden recognized it as before. The same crimson scaled dragon as before. But unlike last time he was getting a lot bigger. Once the transformation was complete he dwarfed the size of the giant frog that Gaiden had seen years ago.

The eldest of the demonhunters was the only one who understood what this meant. "My god this isn't a demon container. This isn't even someone who once had the demon sealed within him and then fused together. This is the actual eight tailed beast, who had somehow transformed into a human..." the others looked at him in shock. There were old records that suggested it was possible for a demon to transform into a human, but they had never seen actual proof that it was possible.

One of the middle hunters spoke loudly to get their attention. "So what? This is the worst case scenario. Which we did plan for. Even if we didn't think it would happen, we planned on having to fight a tailed beast. Now its time to prove to the world that we can take on even a tailed beast. Besides he's a shadowdragon, he is weak versus light even more than other demons. Time to exploit that." That got the others back on track and they all nodded their agreement.

They began to chant again as they prepared another jutsu. One that he couldn't see as he was still under the effects of the powerful genjutsu. In his eyes he was fighting Iku, attempting in every way to avenge his wife.

He roared in pure agony upon seeing his wife struck down. Rushing in he attempted to crush Iku. Dropping a kick where Iku was standing only to hit the ground below. Sensing his new location he whirled around sending a massive surge of chakra towards him. When the smoke cleared Iku was standing off to the side with that smirk he was so famous for. Which only served to infuriate Zal even more. Zal's rage began to literally take form, in a way that had not happened the real time they had fought. Releasing the seals which kept his form human he began to shift towards not simply his demonic form, but his true form.

For years he had kept people under the disillusion that he was merely a demon container, which was in fact untrue. The most powerful of demons used seals to keep their own power in check, in order to grow even stronger. Then they would often choose the most physically inferior creature on the planet. Humans. Doing so gave them a disadvantage that made them have to rely more on their own skills to survive. However even doing so they kept many of their demon traits, and some of their demonic powers would leak through. So instead of completely dominating their human opponents with their sheer power, they would use only what they figured the humans own level would be. Doing so made them struggle just as hard versus a weak opponent as a strong one.

Zal had fooled many into thinking that he was simply a descendant of the clans creator, when in fact he was the clans creator. Even only a few in the clan itself knew he was truly the eight tailed beast Zalagrim Neo Bahamut, the Emperor of all dragons, and the one who had in fact created the Ukriz blood limit.

But Zal forgot all this as his opponent was one he had hungered to kill for years. And this time he wasn't going to make the same mistake as last time. This time he was going to go all out, and release all his power. Iku wouldn't survive this, no one short of the nine tailed beast, Kyuubi would. "Grrrrraaaahhhhhhhh!" His power surged as it hadn't in years. For the first time since he had met his soulmate, he was at full power. Well as close to full power as he could be without his soulstone.

Outside once Zal had fully transformed he roared loudly enough that everyone for one hundred miles would think he was outside their door. The demonhunters were nearly finished with their Jutsu when suddenly he rose in the sky, and dropped down on the spot they occupied. They barely moved out of the way, their jutsu lost. Suddenly they looked to see him facing towards them. A massive surge of chakra rushed towards them incinerating everything in its path. Nearly all of them made it out of the way, all but one. His screams of agony were something none of them would ever forget. A shiver ran down their spines as they saw and even felt the true power of the Biju.

The one tailed beast had taken a full circle of nine. Even though the demonhunters specialized in vanquishing demons, seven is not nine, and nine for some reason was about ten times more potent than even eight. Not to mention they had just lost one of their number, they were all beginning to doubt it was possible to take down the eight tailed beast with only six of them. Suddenly they felt a huge surge of chakra. The realized that they hadn't destroyed all his seals, and that just now he had released the remaining ones. The pure power they felt made them forget even trying to kill him, and survival suddenly seemed a lot more important.

One of them fought using a shield, one specially designed to cancel out even the hottest of fires. Zal blew a giant ball of fire at them. The one with the shield jumped in front and channeled chakra into his shield nullifying the fire. Almost as if he saw the attack had no effect he roared louder before starting to puff up his chest as if preparing something. The demonhunter channeled more chakra into his shield preparing for whatever was next. Zals eyes suddenly faced towards them, as if watching something they couldn't see, roaring so loudly many of them covered their ears simply to keep from going deaf. A black flame erupted from his mouth surging towards them like something alive. Yelling his defiance at the dragon the demonhunter braced his shield for the impact of the flame. It never happened. The flame completely consumed the shield as if it was dry tinder, before consuming him as well. Unlike his former comrade, he didn't even get to scream. The flame didn't burn in the way normal flame did, which was by heat. This black flame burned in an almost magical way, that consumed anything. It was called **Amaterasu**, the Shadowflame. Created by the shadow dragon called Zalagrim Neo Bahamut.

However even though it was created by him, and he was the only demon capable of using it, the Uchiha had inherited this ability as well. Because although their creator, Iku was in fact the lightning element, he was originally a clone of Zal. Because of this he inherited the shadow abilities that were natural to him. And that shadow bond was passed through his sharingan to his successors. The Uchiha. The only humans alive capable of using this infernal flame that burned anything. And while this flame that could burn anything was incredible, it had one more trait that made it legendary. This flame would follow whatever it targeted, until that target was destroyed.

The demonhunters had just found out the first part of it, and as they ran they found out the second part as he began to kill them off as they ran. His unseeing eyes only saw Iku laughing at his failed attempts to kill him, each demonhunter he destroyed all he saw was failure to kill his tormentor. His rage reached a peak and he flew into the air. Black chakra began to gather at his mouth as he began his most powerful attack. The Ultima. By now even those all the way in Konoha had wondered out into the streets to see what all the loud noise was. Climbing on top of their roofs and towers they saw a dragon in the far distance hovering in the air, and a bright light that he was emitting.

Craving nothing but destruction at this point, he let loose the attack that could demolish everything in its path. Everything but the nine tailed beast. Upon impact the explosion created a cloud of debris that covered miles. The cloud extended into konoha causing people to hold on as the wind that blew it in nearly picked up even adults and sent them flying. Once the dust began to settle Zal felt a massive surge of chakra, even through the genjutsu. In his illusion he saw Iku powering up to a level he had never seen before.

In actuality the Kyuubi had been attempting to sleep through his bloodmoon, and was woken up by an irritating dragon. Not only woken up, but actually hurt by him. And about the only thing more dangerous than a grumpy nine tailed fox that was woken up by being attacked, would be Tsunade if she caught her man sleeping with another women.

Kyuubi roared his challenge at the eight tailed beast that was daring to irritate him. Normally when two tailed beasts confronted eachother the lower ranking one would back down, even if he wasn't afraid of him. It was simply the way things were done. However Zal didn't see the Kyuubi. He saw Iku taunting him with power that possibly rivaled his own. And needing no more provocation he charged. Needless to say Kyuubi was a bit surprised. His bloodmoon wouldn't take full effect for two to three more days. And so his thoughts were simply hazy, instead of completely gone. So his hazy though process told him that Zal was challenging him for position of nine tails.

In actuality Zalagrim was more powerful that Kyuubi. But only in brute force. And the fox wasn't that far behind him, add onto the fact that a fox has a much higher chakra regeneration rate than a dragon. Should it become a prolonged battle the dragon would wear out, while the fox stayed strong. However as a demons bloodmoon drew near, his power increased greatly, in order to make up for his decreased judgement. Once Kyuubi's bloodmoon had completely taken over him, his power would possibly exceed even the emperor of all dragons. And with his regeneration rate he would completely dominate Zal.

However he had not yet reached that full state. And his power was slightly less than Zal's. Although not enough so to actually give him a real disadvantage. Zal puffed up his chest before releasing the all powerful Amaterasu at Kyuubi. However, no matter how powerful the Amaterasu is, Kyuubi is a demon of fire. Meaning his body is actually made of fire. So while the Amaterasu wouldn't actually heal him like normal fire, it couldn't kill him. All it did was hurt him about as much as normal fire would hurt Zal from the Kyuubi. Determined to kill Iku at all costs, Zal went all out regardless of the fact that once he depleted all his power the body he currently had would probably die.

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Back on Konoha Minato could feel the ground tremble under the power of something far away. Yet the most important thing in his life was happening now, and he couldn't leave the side of the woman he loved. She needed him there, it was a difficult birth, the doctors explained that somehow her chakra was being drained by the child. At first wondered about how this could happen. So he had several people bring him scrolls from Zal's personal library. Tearing through them he finally found what he was looking for. A child who had demon blood in their veins had their power limited by the amount of power they received near their birth. In other words the more power they gained shortly before and after their birth determined how much growth they would have in their life, at least in power. He finally understood, and walked back to Yuki's side. Taking her hand he whispered in her ear, so only she could hear him. "Yuki stop this, making our child more powerful will not be worth it if you die in the process."

Yuki weakly smacked the side of his head. "Baka, I've trained my entire life as a ninja. Do you honestly think I don't know my own limit? I know when I need to stop, not you. I don't care if you are the Hokage, don't tell me what to do." He sighed. It was pretty obvious that he wouldn't be able to change her mind. And it was true that she had trained extensively and no one knew her limits more than herself. However he also knew she had a tendency to push herself to those limits and often times past. Granted she always recovered in about a day from even the most strenuous activities. But he still worried that one day she would push herself past the recovery point. Outwardly he worried about her, and inwardly he worried about the giant power he felt so far away. That fact that he could feel it from this obvious distance meant it was huge. Bigger than anything he had ever faced. He had a bad feeling that it was a threat to the safety of the village he had lived his life to protect.

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Zalagrim brought another Ultima to bear on his opponent, only to have it cut off with a surge of void chakra from kyuubi. Forsaking elements they rushed eachother in close combat. Teeth, claws, tails, and other body parts being used to gain an advantage of eachother. For two days they fought, each day Kyuubi growing stronger as Zal slowly grew weaker. Kyuubi suddenly sent a surge of void at point blank range into Zal's head. The shock sent him reeling. However suddenly he noticed something. He wasn't fighting Iku, but Kyuubi! The power of the void jutsu had erased the genjutsu from his mind. Attempting to gain some measure of his surroundings he let his guard down slightly. Kyuubi sensed the sudden change and took full advantage of it. Using all nine tails he sent such a large surge of void at Zal that if he had been prepared he probably would have been unable to do anything for a short time after. Zal wasn't prepared, and the jutsu caught him full on.

The result engulfed him in dark energy that burned even his extremely resistant scales away from his body. His roars of agony echoed as far away as the land of mist. Void element works in ways similar to Amaterasu. it often burns or consumes things to fuel itself. However unlike the Amatersu, void doesnt burn. It consumes. It erases, creates an absence of something, a literal void. Grasping at any chance of survival, hw created a shadow clone of himself, then used a replacement jutsu to switch places with his clone. As the clone took the brunt of the void chakra Zal began to fly off. However under his weight, his deteriorated wings collapsed dropping him heavily to the ground. Gasping as his body tried to compensate for the damage he had taken, by regenerating at an increased pace. A human would have probably stood in awe, watching his muscles repair themselves before their very eyes.

Kyuubi delt with the shadow clone quickly, and turned to where Zal lay on the ground, attempting to raise himself up. Kyuubi stalked over sensing his victory. Zal began to think of a way to defend himself from the next attack, when suddenly he felt something. A resonating of a chakra he remembered. Relaxing he closed his unseeing eyes. And let the cold of the void take him.

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Yuki was going in labor and this time they were sure it was the real thing. Suddenly she screamed. She felt her connection to her father suddenly snap, like a wire that had been snapped when to much pressure had been applied. It could only be described as pure agony. Everyone in the building heard her, and thought she was having birth complications. Tsunade had left the village a few years before that, and one of the regular nurses were in charge of her. Unable to determine the issue she sedated her, in order to calm her.

Suddenly a jounin appeared in the room for Minato. "Hokage-sama, the nine tailed beast Kyuubi has been seen rampaging up north of here, and he is moving closer to the village." Minato felt dismay. Zal had headed out north, and he was sure he had felt his chakra signature not long ago. That must mean he had been overpowered, was he alive? Suddenly he made the connection, Yuki had been screaming because she had felt his death. Shock set in. Granted he had been fighting the nine tailed beast, yet Zal had always seemed so indestructible. The thought of him losing seemed incredible, and in a fight of pure power losing was unfathomable.

He realized that with his father in law gone, there was no demon to seal within his son, which meant he would die shortly afterwards. Despair began to overtake him. Losing the man who had nearly raised him hurt horribly. Losing his unborn son was something he was unsure he would be able to bear. He knew Yuki wouldn't be capable of it. Suddenly he had an idea. Running from the room he hurried to Zal's library. Tearing through the scrolls there he found it. The jutsu that would save his unborn sons life. He briefly wondered why it didn't bother him that the cost of the jutsu wouldn't be just his life, but his actual soul. For those who used this jutsu there would be no afterlife. More of an eternity of pain and agony being digested.

Rushing back he began to set up the prerequisites for this jutsu. The most powerful one he had ever used. Demons were incapable of using this one. He would be summoning the Shinigami to devour his own soul in trade for sealing the essence of the Kyuubi in his son once he was born. He called together his most loyal jounin, and Anbu. "/i have the means with which to defeat the Kyuubi. However I need time to get it ready, I beg you to buy me enough time to finish it. For the sake of all Konoha, keep him busy till I am ready." He pleaded them, but pleading was not necessary. The wasn't one of them who would hesitate to sacrifice his life for their Hokage. Disappearing they rushed off to gather their squads and do as their beloved Hokage asked. Many entire clans gathered to defend the village for their Hokage.

This would be a difficult battle they knew, and it was hard to imagine such a beast being beaten by a mere human. But they all trusted their Hokage completely. For a day they fought to the best of their ability. Yet in that time the kyuubi managed to not only withstand all their attacks. But he managed to completely wipe out several clans. Several clans would become nothing more than history. The combat loving clan known as the Irikari clan. Were wiped out to the last man women and child. One young chunnin who had been learning from them was told to evacuate the civilians instead of fight as he wanted to. Mahito Gai swore to himself that he would evacuate all the civilians in such a fast time that he would be on hand before it was even half over, or he would personally bury every body of their clan, of every single person that died. Tears streamed down his face as he heard the death cries of many he had known, as he was unable to help them as the civilians took precedence.

Hatake Kakashi also was locating and evacuating civilians. Unlike the others he was concerned about their Hokage. Whatever he was planning would have to be hard on himself. Regardless of how the Hokage thought. Everyone in the village would give up their life for him, if he planned on sacrificing himself on their benefit then the entire village would be wounded deeply. And with his wife about to give birth, it couldn't be an easy time on him.

Back at the hospital they were unable to move Yuki. She would be giving birth any time now, and moving her could prove fatal. She had woken up from the sedative in record time. And she was much calmer. She asked where Minato was, and was informed he was preforming a jutsu that would save then entire village. Suddenly she had a memory flash to the front of her mind. It was Akira facing the kyuubi and summoning the Shinigami to defeat him. Then her contractions started. For several hours they helped her through the birth process. Eventually the nurse handed her a baby boy. His damp hair as blond as that of his fathers. Yuki told them all to go get Minato, except one to watch the baby with her.

Once Minato was informed he rushed back to her room to find the nurse who had been with Yuki crying, holding the young baby. With a note written to him.

Minato my love

The name shall be as we agreed, Naruto. There is something I must do, don't try to find out what it is or stop me, you have your own duty to fulfill. And I have mine. Be careful with our son, he will be our legacy.

Signed by the women who loves you most of all the women in Konoha.

Yuki

Minato carefully picked up the baby named Naruto. It had been assumed before hand that they would name him with Minatos surname. But he decided against that. "Naruto, of the Uzumakies. You shall grow up strong like your mother, and stuborn like her too. But you will have my drive to protect Konoha, one day you shall be Hokage after me."

Taking naruto with him he began the final portions of his jutsu. an hour or two more and it would be complete.

Yuki understood what Minato was planning. Her memories of the vision she had were being fulfilled before her eyes. She wasn't going to try and stop it from happening. She was simply going to be a part of it. She would protect her baby boy with her life. He was the legacy of the sealmaster clan. He must survive at all costs. She had lost her father today, and was going to lose her husband. She wasn't going to be able to stay sane if she lived. So she didn't plan on living.

Kyuubi was roaring his pleasure as he devoured soul after soul from Konoha. When suddenly he felt a chakra he had felt not to long ago. Glancing over he saw a dragon rise from the village. However this one was blue, and smelled of her own blood. She had just given birth to a youngling. Her roar said she was protecting something precious to her. He didn't care, all he wanted was to kill. And she was just another target.

Roaring her challenge she rose in the sky sending her signature icy flames crackling towards him. With a mere roar he dispelled them. She had a nearly complete mastery of water, and fire was something she was simply naturally good at. However her had complete mastery over all the elements. Simply willing it to disperse cause her attacks to nullify themselves. Realizing that elemental attacks would have no effect she rushed in for close combat.

He met her full on, and stopped all her forwards momentum with no difficulty. Reaching around her head he grabbed ahold of her neck with his teeth he shook he neck roughly till he felt her spine snap, and her body go limp. Roaring his victory over two opponents in the same day, he was heard by everyone in Konoha.

Minato was just finishing up the final inscriptions when suddenly Naruto began to cry. Minato picked him up gently and cooed soothingly trying to calm him down. Then he heard the giant roar. Looking out the window he saw Kyuubi standing over the body of a blue dragon. An icy hand took hold of his heart and began to squeeze. He had already known partially that she probably wouldn't want to outlive him. But actually seeing her dead nearly made his body seize up. The only reason he didn't was the crying babe in his arms. Tears began to fall down his cheeks as he whispered to the baby. "Don't cry my son. You shall be the hero of Konoha. Your mother and father won't be able to be with you as you grow up, but the entire village will see you as their savior. You shall not want for love, as the entire village will be your family." Tears trickled from his face down onto the face of the young baby. How he wanted to see him grow up to be a fine ninja. How he wanted to teach him to throw a Kunai, and how to mold chakra. He wanted to be there to give him advice on girls and laugh as he was chased by the entire village of girls while he would be totally unaware of how cute girls thought he was.

Vaguely he wondered if he could cut a deal to be able to at least watch his son grow up, with the shinigami. Only one way to find out he supposed. Setting him down in the middle of the seal he had inscribed, he finished it on Naruto's stomach. He walked outside and looked at the scene of the carnage. The ninjas stopped fighting to turn and see their beloved Hokage standing there like the savior that they all saw him as. Even Kyuubi sensed the sudden change of all the humans he had been fighting, he turned his head to see a mere human who apparently was going to be his opponent.

Minato preformed several hand seals and quietly said the name of the summoning jutsu. A giant puff of smoke clouded the area for a few seconds, until suddenly a giant toad appeared, with Minato on his head. Minato started going through hand seals at a speed that would rival even Zal at his best. The giant toad named Gamabunta charged in close combat with a katana that was longer than most mountains were high.

Kyuubi roared and engaged him. Minato kept preforming hand seals, as it was a very long jutsu. After a time he told Gamabunta to back away. With one leap they had quite a bit of space between them Minato finished his jutsu. The name of it went unheard although everyone saw its effects. The shinigami appeared behind him in the sky in plain sight. Everyone saw a giant hand reach from Minato's stomach and grab ahold of Kyuubi and rip his soul out of his body, and force him into the tower that the Hokage had been working in. Jiraiya was inside watching the baby with the ex-hokage, the third, and watched the fox being forced into the body of the young baby. A bright flash of light and suddenly it was just the baby with a black seal on his stomach, and some odd black marks on his cheeks. There was a silence as the entire village saw their Hokage posed on top of Gamabunta his hands still together in the shape of his last handseal. Then a cheer went up, from every single person in miles, at their hero as they watched the body of the Kyuubi dissapear without a demon to keep it together.

Slowly the Hokage began to tilt forwards, everyone thought he was looking down at them from his throne on top of the majestic toad. Then they stopped cheering as he continued to tilt forwards, until he toppled from atop Gamabunta and fell towards the ground. Suddenly Jiraiya appeared and caught him just before he hit the ground. He gently set him to the ground and felt his pulse. Everyone in konoha practically felt him bow his head in sorrow. The loud cheering turned to screams of anguish. Possibly the most beloved Hokage in history of Konoha, had just died to save them all.

Suddenly the third hokage appeared on top of a nearby pile of rubble. "On this day our Hokage sacrificed himself to seal the kyuubi in this child. On this day a hero is lost, and another one is born! Hail the jailer of the Kyuubi!" He waited for the people to turn their affection towards this child who would grow up as their newest savior. What he heard instead was muttering. "The Kyuubi has taken a new vessel, we should kill it before it matures again!" and other people saying "Thats the demon that killed the Hokage! Kill it!" Things were starting to get out of hand. Sarutobi noticed even some of the ninjas were starting to agree with the crowd.

"SILENCE!" The crowd was suddenly quiet. He may not be the Hokage anymore, but he still had a voice of authority. "This child is a symbol of our fourth Hokage, this is not the kyuubi, but his jailer! Anyone who attempts to harm him will be publicly executed." He understood how they felt. Their beloved hokage was dead and the only one they could blame was not reachable, as he was sealed inside a child. The felt the need to be able to actually have a object to point the blame on, and that object was this child.

He would personally see to it that this child was taken care of. It had been a final promise to Minato, one he intended to keep.

**END PART ONE **

**AN: Dun dun dun da dun! So many requests so i said fine. Thats the end of part one, now i'm going to actually start on the naruto section. All that good stuff. Some people are probably angry that i killed off Yuki and Zal. My response to that is "Sorry but im a bastard like that." There going to be an alternate chapter 17, and im going to take votes on which one you guys like better. whichever you guys decide you like best will determine a huge change in the storyline. both chapters lead different directions. Heres a peek of the one you will get if you pick this chapter. **

The doctor was still confused. The woman had been six months pregnate before they found out she had twins on the way. Now that she was giving birth both babies seemed healthy from a medical standpoint. but then they were still inside the woman, she would be giving birth any minute now.

The first one was a boy who came out covered in all sorts of black stuff. This was a cause for concern, as normally they came out covered in fluids from the womb. They tried to wipe the black stuff off, only to find out it wouldn't come off. He seemed to have an odd skin pigment, however he seemed healthy so they decided to look farther into it later. The then proceeded to smack his backside to get him to cry, which is usually a sign of a healthy baby. However he not only didn't cry, but he actually opened his eyes. And looked towards the doctor holding him. The doctor nearly dropped him when he saw the eyes. Unlike normal baby eyes which are a light blue, for awhile till they start to gain color. His were green, with a slit for a pupil.

The doctor stammered something unintelligible and the head doctor came over to see what the problem was. The first doctor watched as the eyes changed to look like normal eyes, by the time the head doctor came over there were simply green. He was slightly startled by the color but figured it must be some genetic trait inherited from his family. going over to help the woman birth the other one it came out as a girl. Unlike the boy she had no strange markings and normal baby eyes.

The doctors handed both the babies to the mother who was overjoyed, as she had been once told she was infertile. Now she not only had a child, but twins. One doctor noticed yet another strange thing about the baby with the odd markings. Unlike the girl he didn't look at anyone or anything, he felt with his hands. His twin sister he felt her face for several seconds before hugging her tightly.

The doctor was a bit concerned by this and took his flashlight and shined it in the eyes to see how much the boys eyes dilated. After a minute or two he took the father aside and talked to him. "I'm sorry sir, but the boy... is blind."


	18. Fall of a Kage

**AN: well it's been awhile I know, but work has me busy alot. READ AND REVIEW! This is the alternate chapter 17. So in other words, until theres at least 10 votes for one or the other then I'm not going to even start writing the next chapter. I have created a Forum where you can place your votes. The link is in my profile, sorry it wont let me post it here. Make sure you vote!! Sorry it seems for some reason quotations in the first part of the chapter were removed, I don't know why. It's fixed now.  
**

Zal had already released the first seal and the second just fizzed out from the massive amounts of chaka he was forcing through it. The third one was barely holding, but he had enough to complete the jutsu now. He was now chanting the final parts of the jutsu at the top of his lungs, the seals on the walls glowing the dark red of his blood, when the name of the jutsu spilled from his lips. Void element: Heavens Sealing!

**Fall of a Kage**

Yuki glanced over after the door fell in. Pure silence ensued. "Minato I got the feeling something bad happened. Lets hurry."

Akira/Minato nodded and hurried down the stairs after her. What they found was Zal laying unconscious on the floor, with both horns and a tail in plain sight. Although unlike the forms both he and Yuki had used before, which had scales this form didn't. This form seemed perfectly normal except the wings and horns.

Minato glanced at all the seals covering the walls. "This looks like... blood. What the hell did he do that required this degree of... well all these seals."

Yuki shook her head "I don't know, but whatever it was it took enough chakra to knock him out cold. We need to get him to Tsunade as soon as possible. Although this current state may be bit strange to most people. We'll use a minor genjutsu just so people won't notice at least till we reach the hospital."

Minato nodded then said "What about all these seals? We can't just lock the door, it's kinda busted."

Yuki glanced up and realized he was right. "Well we will just tell Rukia not to come downstairs, and not to let anyone else in the house till we get back. That should work for now." Minato nodded and they each draped one of Zals arms on their shoulders and began to carry him to the hospital. Stopping just long enough to tell Rukia.

Arriving at the hospital the specifically requested Tsunade. The woman at the front desk was going to tell them that there were plenty of other capable medic nin on hand to see to the patient, when she noticed it was the guy who destroyed her last desk a week ago. After a slight squeak she told them to follow her and rushed off to find Tsunade. They found Tsunade in the third floor taking care of someone who had a bad case of food poisoning.

"Tsunade-sama theres some people here who requested you in specific." Tsunade turned around and noticed them carrying Zal, who was obviously completely unconscious. Tsunade quickly helped them get him onto a bed then wheeled him to a private room.

It was obvious that a genjutsu had been hastily placed on him to hide something. She dispelled it and caught her breath. Unlike the transformation jutsu Yuki had used before, this wasn't a change of ninjutsu. This was something else entirely. After a thorough examination she was even more perplexed. Everything seemed perfectly natural for him. It was as if the wings were something all humans were meant to have, yet didn't. And the horns didn't seem to have been grown recently or anything, more like they had always been there. And unlike Yuki's form previously, this one wasn't draining any chakra that she could tell. About the only thing that didn't confuse her was that his unconsciousness was caused by chakra exhaustion. A common side effect of training or preforming jutsu past your limit. Closer inspection also revealed he had bad cause of mental trauma as well, possibly caused by whatever jutsu he had been preforming.

Shaking her head in confusion she stated the facts she had found out to Yuki and Minato. They were obviously relieved and as far as mental trauma went, they figured that was perfectly normal for any ninja who had seen as much death as he had in his past. However Tsunade said one more thing to catch their attention. "Before you go theres something you should know. While chakra exhaustion is a common thing for ninjas. This might not be so simple. I'm not certain but this may very well take more than just a week to recover from. This may far longer. I don't know what he did to exhaust himself this greatly, but I'm going to request a Hyuuga to come have a look and see if there are any other damages incurred to his body. Frankly I've never seen anyone this low on chakra and actually survive."

That took their worries up a notch. Zal taking an entire week would be unusual. More than that sounded extremely bad. Tsunade gathered the information from them to put on his medical information sheet. The list went as follows:

Name: Zalagrim Uzumaki

Reason for hospitalization: Chakra Exhaustion, Mental Trauma (Possible head injury)

Age: 27

Bloodtype: Unable to determine

Most likely Remedy: Rest

Unusual Genetic Issues: Wings protruding from back, and horns from forehead

Once Tsunade was able to get ahold of the Hyuuga she wanted she brought her to his room. The Hyuuga was a female who while not allowed to actively study medicine, was well versed in human anatomy. The Hyuuga mentioned something very unusual. "Tsunade-sama here's something you might find interesting. His entire body is covered in seals. But thats only a side note. When I activate my Byakugan I can no longer see his wings. It's as if they don't exist. Yet when I turn it off I can see them as clear as you can."

Tsunade did find that interesting. Every Medical jutsu she had used confirmed they were there. Hell she could feel them with her hands. Yet the All seeing eye known as the Byakugan couldn't see them? Very odd. "What are the odds that you can't see them because a genjutsu?"

The Hyuuga was silent for a second. Then replied "It is possible, although unlikely. The Byakugan can see though all but the most powerful genjutsu. Although at this point perhaps that is the most realistic cause. Perhaps one of the seals on his body makes his body appear to be that of a normal human. Although I fail to see why it would only effect the Byakugan and not regular vision as well."

They were both silent as they thought about it, then they reached the conclusion at the exact same time. Unless the genjutsu was designed specifically to fool the Byakugan. Suddenly both of them were interested. If there was something he wanted to hide, he had failed miserably when it came to his wings and horns. But they had seen those before, so that must mean he was hiding something else entirely. The Hyuuga spoke up first "Tsunade what are the odds of you letting me remove those seals to see just what he is hiding? It could be a matter of security for Konoha after all."

Tsunade shook her head. "Regardless, he has proved up till now that he is nothing but trustworthy to Konoha. I can't allow tampering with a patients body for anything but that to help him get better. Besides for all we know some of these may very well be keeping him alive. I'm not willing to take any risks in this. I thank you for your time."

The Hyuuga nodded regretfully, obviously still wanting to know just what he was hiding, although more for curiosities sake than anything else. As she walked out she said one last thing "Oh by the way Tsunade-sama, you might want to fix his medical list. It fairly obvious hes not twenty seven years old. I'd say nineteen to twenty at most. Good day."

As she walked out Tsunade turned around to see what she was talking about, and gasped. She hadn't even noticed. He looked just as young as he had the day she first saw him. And if the only genjutsu he was using fooled the Byakugan, and this was what he really looked like. Why was he pretending to look older normally? This man was shrouded in so many mysteries, that she just was dying to know. Yet she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt there was no way in hell he was going to clear any of those up for her. But one thing made sense now more than ever. At times she had wondered when they first met just how someone as young as him had managed to become as famous as a headhunter as he had. But if he didn't age at all, then perhaps he had, had more time than any of them realized. One thing she was going to ask him when he woke up, regardless of the odds of him saying no. If he knew the secret for eternal youth, she would be damned if she didn't choke it out of him.

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Zal was in the basement and just activated his jutsu. He heard Yuki and Akira bang down his door. With his hearing it would have been impossible not to. Of course the instant his jutsu took effect they stopped moving, as did everyone else in Konoha. He braced himself for the shock of what was about to happen. Even so he still gasped under the pressure. Every memory of every person in the entire village of Konoha, rushed into him like he was a dam holding water. Then he began to sift. He sent back all regular memories to everyone that had nothing to do with him or his family. However every single memory that either him, Yuki or Akira were in he checked carefully, and modified. He changed the name everyone remembered him and Yuki by from Ukriz, to Uzumaki. The maiden name of his late wife. Iku didn't know the name as he had never cared enough to learn it.

While he was sifting through memories he stumbled on Jiraiya's. Jiraiya had just discovered Akiras true name was Minato, Namikaze Minato. Zal knew it would be easier for Akira to adjust to his new name if he and everyone else remembered nothing else. So everyone who had ever met him forgot the name Akira Tsikyn, and remembered Minato Namikaze instead.

Then to further change their background so that they would be harder to trace he changed it so everyone remembered them coming from the village hidden in the mist, with his wife, who died shortly after they arrived.

On a spur of the moment he also purged the memories of those outside his family who knew he was blind. They wouldn't remember that little detail, they didn't need it.

For the final change, he remade it so no one knew he was the eight tailed hunter. As far as they knew he was just a skilled freelancer who hired on there.

There was a few other things he intended to change, but darkness began to cloud his vision and he lost control over his jutsu. Movement returned to the people of Konoha. He heard the confusion of people who wondered how suddenly time had passed to quickly. Vaguely he wondered just how much time had passed. It only felt like a few hours, but based on the massive chakra drain he was unsure. He could feel another side effect of forcing the change of so many peoples memories so quickly. The mental strain was horrendous. Waves of pain began to build inside his skull. After what felt like hours more, (even though it was only a few minutes) he lost coherence and slipped into darkness, the noise of eight years of memories of the Konoha villagers, all attempting to crowd themselves to the front of his thoughts. Fighting for dominance, like rats all attempting to be the last one to drown.

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After over a month since they had brought Zal to the hospital, he regained consciousness. Tsunade was onhand when he suddenly woke up. They had been getting worried. Even though they had been feeding him through a tube for the last month his body refused the nutrition. His body would accept about as much as a bird would eat, and flush the rest out. The entire month his body continued down the path of no return. His chakra slowly returned, but his physical strength didn't.

When he woke his breathing was shallow, and ragged. His pupils were dilated and he seemed to have a hard time breathing. His skin was pale and sickly, but had been so for the last few weeks. Tsunade called for another nurse, and attempted to stabilize him. Suddenly a patient in the room next to him who had only broken a leg screamed out. A nurse rushed in to check on him to find him in convulsions, his eyes rolled up in his head. A young man probably in his early thirties, and no history in his family of heart problems, and right now he was having a heart attack. All the normal procedures were having no effect. Tsunade left Zal's side to check on the man herself. In less than a minute later he died. All the nurses and doctors around looked at eachother completely at a loss. None of them understood what had happened.

Tsunade preformed a basic autopsy, and determined that his heart attack had been induced by massive chakra concentrations from an outside force, directly into his heart. The only problem with that, was that to do something of the sort you had to be channeling chakra directly into him, in other words you would have been having to stand next to him the entire time. And she knew for a fact no one had done any such thing. Suddenly Tsunade glanced up. There was a strange giggling coming from Zal's room.

Rushing back she found him gnawing on his forefinger slightly while giggling with a strange look in his eyes. "Hee hee hee tee hee. He tasted very good. I wonder if there are any other people in here who would taste as good as he did. I feel like I haven't eaten in years. Must have been to many snacks and not enough meals. Maemi will scold me if I don't eat enough. I should probably go hunting." Getting off his bed and standing up he became unbalanced and reached out to grab the nearest thing to him. The curtain between him and another patient. This patient had been having chronic nightmares about vampires. "Oooooo. Don't you look good enough to eat."

The poor fellow passed out with one look at the crazed man. Tsunade stormed over to Zal and grabbed him by the shoulders, and started shaking him. "What did you do to that other patient! I know your behind whatever happened to him!"

Zal cocked his head to the side. "Why are you angry? I was just hungry. You don't get mad at dogs for eating rabbits do you? Why would you get mad at me for eating him?"

She looked at him wondering what had happened to him. Granted Zal had been known for mood swings in the past, but this was completely off the scales for weird for him. She decided on a quick test. "Zal, what is my name?"

He glanced at the ceiling apparently attempting to recall some information that was somewhere in the back of his mind. He began listing off random names of women in the village. She knew most of the names but not only was there some she didn't know, it was odd that he knew them. In twenty minutes he had named off almost every women who she knew in Konoha before he said hers. Instead of saying yes though, she let him continue to list off the names. Over an hour passed with her holding him by the shoulders and him staring at the ceiling listing off names. She had someone writing down the names as he listed them off.

After two hours passed he suddenly stopped. "Are you sure it wasn't Tsunade? You smell a lot like her." She was about to take offense at that when he said "Your chakra signature is like hers too. And your a medic, so if your not her then you must know her." She noticed he hadn't said she looked like Tsunade though.

She called for a medical flashlight and shined it in his eyes, to see how much his pupils dilated. They didn't at all. The shock hit her. He was completely totally blind! But how did he see? Suddenly he spoke "Miss medic-san, what are you pointing at my eyes? It's making me uncomfortable."

She ignored his question and told an assistant to call Yuki and Minato to the hospital, she had some grave news for them. "Zal-sama, would you please follow me? We have a really nice place set up for you. Its very comfortable, and theres a few things we need to talk to you about."

Zal cocked his head again. "Will I get to eat again after? I'm famished. And that little man barely did more than wet my appetite." Tsunade shivered. Something about the whole situation seemed just off. Like there was a key point she was missing. Zal obviously hadn't eaten the guy, his body was still in the room. The continued to a room deep underground, the walls were white and had padding all over. The door was padded as well, and was made of specialized steel, that was several feet thick. As they walked inside Zal commented. "This seems just like my cave back in the mountains before I came to live with humans. Although much smaller, and it smells odd. It doesn't have a defined shape like rocks do."

Tsunade replied "Zal how would you like a nap? You seem very tired." He nodded. He did feel tired after all. Like for the last few years he had taken nothing but catnaps. A real rest would be nice. Sleeping gas had been seeping in the room since they entered. Tsunade was using her medical training to keep it from effecting her. But looking at Zal apparently he had no such training, or didn't know it was necessary right now. She walked out of the room and closed the door, locking it shut. However Zal had been tired not from the sleeping gas, but from the fact he was simply tired. However the instant the gas hit him he was wide awake. He smelled it the instant it got near him. He didn't know what it was, but he knew he didn't like it.

As Tsunade was talking to the guard outside the door she heard a roar from the supposedly soundproof room. Not just a faint roar either. With the volume of it she was sure it had to be loud enough to be heard above ground. Nothing human could make a noise that loud. Opening up a sliding shudder on the door, that was just for looking through, she saw Zal standing in the middle of the floor in a crouched position, hands clenched in fists, and arms at an held close to his body. The pure chakra emanating from him was visible. Which shouldn't be possible based on how low he was on chakra a few hours ago. She looked over at the guard to tell him to go summon backup when she saw his eyes rolled up in his head and laying on the ground clutching his chest on his left side. Quickly she rushed to his side to see what she could do for him, but his pulse went out just as she could tell it was there. Knowing if she didn't get reinforcements soon something bad was going to happen, she rushed upstairs herself. Halfway up she found a messenger who had apparently been on his way to tell her Yuki and Minato were there, also laying on the floor. Apparently he had died from a heart attack too.

Rushing up the stairs she got to the main floor and discovered that she had been correct. The roaring was completely audible even up here. Yuki and Minato were staring at her as if she had done something wrong. Yuki spoke up first. "What did you do to him! Where's my father!" Minato was silent but his glare said the same thing. She quickly explained to them everything that had happened. Zal was apparently killing people without touching them. And they brought him down there to keep people safe. But two people had died even from him down there. At this point a nurse stopped her and said that in fact they had just lost fifty patients when she was upstairs, and several more seemed to be having heart troubles.

Tsunades eyes bulged at this news. At a loss for words she turned to Yuki and Minato, they knew him better than anyone, perhaps they knew what was going on. Yuki Seemed to be concentrating on something and Minato had a troubled look on his face. Suddenly the doors burst open and several Hyuuga came in, including the head of the Hyuuga clan. "Where is he! Where is the one killing people in the streets! We traced his chakra to here. Its visible all over the village. Tsunade rushed to the door and looked outside. What she saw was chaos in the streets. Visible black chakra wove through the village like dark tentacles seeking prey. Every now and then one would plunge down and spear a person through the chest. Right then and there the person would go into convulsions and then go limp. The tentacle would leave and go seek out another victim, leaving no wound on the body of its last one. Although she couldn't see where they were coming from it was no surprise that the Hyuugas could.

She was at a loss, she wasn't the type to trade one persons life for anothers, but there was no doubt in her mind Zal was responsible for what was going on. She pointed to the door that led to the basement and watched as the Hyuuga rushed downstairs. Reaching downstairs they saw the door that had held the room shut had been crumpled like a piece of tin foil, and thrown against the wall. However Zal was still in the room. Dark black chakra emanated from him in an aura, and what seemed like a hundred tentacles broke off from it and reached through the ceiling above to feast upon some random person in the village above.

The Hyuuga were no fools. They could see that this person was easily more powerful than any of even all of them together. However power alone rarely determined the victor in a battle of skill. Suddenly one of them spoke up. "I have just finished counting, theres one tentacle for each tenketsu." With that piece of information they settled on a game plan, and prepared to rush in when suddenly a single blue tentacle slowly pushed its way towards them, seeing what the black ones were capable of they all jumped out of the way. Looking back to see the source they saw it coming from Yuki who was standing on the outside of the room. The blue tentacle pushed its way through the mass of black ones until it reached the center, the person inside the mass of black chakra.

The instant it touched, her eyes opened wider than most people would have thought possible. Her scream cut through the noise of his roaring on terms of sheer pitch. It may not have reached above ground, but those close enough to hear it certainly had to cover their ears. The Hyuuga decided that before she caused herself any further injury they would eliminate this threat, once and for all. They would each rush him and each strike a different fatal point. Any one of these points would be enough to kill him, all together it was to make sure there was no chance for failure. Hyuuga fought for success not failed attempts at it.

Rushing him again this time they stopped to avoid being shredded. Yuki's lasher had at some point been drawn, and she had it surrounding each of them. Basically they could free themselves, but no matter what method they used, they would get injured in the process. Glancing back at her they noticed her pupils had seemed to be surrounded by a green circle. "This is my duty, if you want to avoid being injured I recommend you get out of here.

Before this her chakra seemed to be almost visible. Now almost was taken out of the phrase. Her chakra matched Zal's. Of course only Minato and her knew that was because she tapped into Zal's chakra. The Hyuugas were shocked that a mere child had as much chakra as this nearly demonic adult. Leaving the room they watched through the wall from the hallway.

Of course Yuki and Minato also knew that her body was not capable of using this much chakra at once, for a very long time. Even with all her training the amount of pure chakra from the eight tailed beast was more than she could channel at once. And even channeling half was causing visible damage even though she had only used it for a minute now. It felt like the chakra was burning her muscles. Before she had never been able to activate the final stage of her bloodline. Never even come close. However with this much unrestrained chakra it activated on its own. Zal had once taught her a seal in case something like this happened.

She had hoped to never have to use it. Without his chakra she wouldn't be able to. This seal took almost as much per second as she had total. The circle around her pupil began to rapidly change shapes, as if made of some liquid. Then seals began to inscribe themselves on the walls, as if burning themselves there.

Zal slowly turned his head. He sensed something was taking the chakra he was hard at work collecting. Based on his chakra levels he decided that he must have skipped his last sixteen to twenty bloodmoons. He was attempting to counterbalance that. True the amount getting leached wasn't extremely enormous, but it was more than simply a little. His chakra vision revealed the chakra was being drained through an tentacle similar to his own. And being used to create some sort of seals on the walls. What it was being used for didn't concern him, the fact that it was being used did. He sent a tentacle toward this annoyance, to rid himself of it. Only to feel it dissipate the instant it touched the target. He withdrew all his tentacles from above and sent them towards this target all at once. Then to his surprise they were sliced in half.

He watched as a whip like weapon that was imbued with an massive amount, so much it rivaled even his own. It writhed back and forth as if it had a mind of its own. But always in a protective manner around his target. He noticed the targets body seemed to be sustaining a lot of damage from the chakra, and was kneeling on the ground breathing heavily, even as it continued to draw more to continue inscribing seals on the walls.

Turning his full attention to this threat he began to experiment. Attacking from different angles, with different amounts of tentacles. Suddenly all the seals were completed and began to glow. His tentacles began to be drawn towards these seals as if gravity had suddenly shifted. His unseeing eyes widened as his chakra stopped obeying him. In a matter of seconds all his tentacles had attached themselves to the seals all over the room. His anger began to take over and he moved to confront this threat himself. Suddenly tentacles shot out of the seals and wound themselves around his body, constricting his movement. The seals Yuki had created drew the chakra of its target and used that chakra to bind said target. Unable to use their chakra, or even their body they would be helpless. The downside to this seal is it could only contain as much chakra as was used to create it. However having full access to Zal's chakra, she used as much chakra as he himself was capable of using. Breaking free wasn't going to happen. Even she didn't know if there would ever be a good time to release him.

Collapsing upon completion of the seal her body began to convulse. Minato rushed to her side, while at the same time calling for Tsunade. The massive amount of chakra that had been channeled through her body had caused incredible damage. Minato was worried about whether she would live through it.

Tsunade showed up shortly, sparing only one glance in Zal's direction. Determining that it would be more dangerous to leave her here despite her condition they rushed her upstairs, followed closely by Minato.

The Hyuuga slipped into the room after the others left. "What should we do about him?" They said quietly, even though there was a small chance of being heard over Zal's yelling. The clan Head thought for a second then replied. "Nothing for now. Those seals will hold him for the time being, we should find out more about him. Theres more to this than meets the eye." They nodded in agreement and walked out. This was not the end of this, of that they were sure.

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**Timeskip eight years**

In the village hidden in the sand, the Kazikage was furious. Every person they sealed the Shukaku in, had died. The power was too great, and they had to reseal him back in the vase. Onaga heard their failed attempts and roared his laughter loud enough for the entire village to hear. The fools didn't understand why no one was able to survive the sealing. Only he did, and their obvious lack of knowledge was very enjoyable. After their betrayal of him years ago, in an attempt to seal him as well, he enjoyed any opportunity to make fun of them, at their expense. Over the years his scales had grown black with the hate that now emanated from his very soul.

Finally the Kazikage had enough. "Whats so funny? You obviously know the reason we can't preform a successful sealing. Tell me."

Onage leaned forward. "Release me, and I will tell you everything you want to know." The Kazikage shook his head. There was no way he was going to give up a demon this powerful this easily. They would eventually figure out what they were doing wrong. Onaga saw that he had lost the chance of using that piece of information to get free. So he decided to taunt them with it. "Very well I'll tell you anyways. Only those with demon blood can successfully contain the spirit of a biju. Minor demons normal humans can contain, but biju are not minor. And I can tell you right now theres not a single person in konoha that has demon blood in their veins."

The kazikage glanced back at his son, the one who would take his place in a few years. "Leave us, everyone leave I will talk to the demon alone, perhaps there is a way around this. after everyone left he turned and looked back at Onaga again. How does one gain demon blood?"

Onaga shifted before replying. "A demon would have to impregnate a human, for that to occur. Should the human survive long enough to give birth the child should be capable of holding the chakra of of the biju."

The Kazikage was silent for several minutes, then he spoke again. "My son has a wife of about five years. An arranged marriage, so it would be all right for her. Would you give us a demonchild?"

Onaga inwardly growled at how despicable humans were. "Why should I cooperate with the ones who imprisoned me here? After everything you have done to me I have no reason to help you, besides mating with a human is one of the most vile things I can think of. Give me one reason why I should cooperate with you."

The kazikage refused to back down "For your freedom." Suddenly Onaga stood up on all fours. Now he was paying full attention. "If you give us a demonchild, I will free you, on the condition you never come back."

Onaga's voice thundered inside the chamber. "Fine, we will make a pact. If you attempt to break it I will devour your very soul, and you will spend an eternity inside my belly."

Hours later the pact was finished, Onaga changed his form to become more human. And waited for the human to come. The current kazakage told neither his son, or his sons wife what was going on. He merely said he needed her for half an hour. Once she discovered the reason she had been brought down there she attempted to escape. However the Kazikage overpowered her and chained her inside Onaga's circle. She never forgot that day, and she never forgave her village for betraying her.

Onaga would have felt sorry for her, but by now he despised all humans completely, and felt no pity for her at all. He swore that one day he would have the soul of the man who betrayed him, after all no one stays in their own country forever. Sooner or later he would leave, Onaga would wait for that day. This he promised himself as he flew away. He had whispered to her after they were finished what she would name the baby. "His name shall be Gaara, for he shall love no one, but himself. As there will be no human who loves him. The demonchild shall become a tool for killing, and his hair will match his thirst for blood."

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**Timeskip one year after Onaga's freedom**

The day was October seventh. The shinobi war had ended recently. All four of the great countries still suffered its aftereffects. And now was the time that seven people decided to make an appearance. They had waited years for this day. Their preparations were complete. The demonhunters were extremely powerful alone, together they were unstoppable. They were fully confident they could kill even one of the tailed beasts. And they were fully prepared to do just that.

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The day of Yuki's baby's birth was approaching. Ever since the day she had seals Zal she had been unable to preform any kinda of jutsu. The damage from channeling such large amounts of chakra through her body had been permanent. Had she been a normal human, there was little doubt she would have died. Even now she was in pain from back then. The doctors were worried about this birth. They were unsure she would be able to give birth to the child and live through it. She of course insisted she would be fine. Despite the fact she was unable to continue as a ninja she had done her best to serve her village as an Anbu interrogation specialist. She gave proof to the saying that "There is nothing more scary than an angry woman."

However even with her tough facade, it was obvious she was under a great deal of pain. Minato was spending every second he could with her when he received news. The north gate had been infiltrated by some unknown agents. The only thing he was told was that they were dressed as monks. For some reason it tugged at a memory of his. But he could not recall what. He sent his best Anbu to guard Yuki while he went to see what this threat was himself. Tracing down these men turned out to be easy. There was a trail of knocked out ninja leading up to the hospital. Wondering what purpose these men would have with the hospital he hurried inside to find the receptionist shivering on the floor in the corner. He hurried over to her and threw his own cloak over her shoulders. She glanced up just noticing him. "Hokage-sama? What are you doing here?"

He shook his head. "Never mind that. Are you all right?" After she nodded he asked "Did you see several men dressed as monks come in here?" She nodded, he asked where they went and she pointed over to the door that led to the basement. Chills ran down his spine. Either they were here to free Zal, or kill him. Neither was a good option. He rushed down the stairs. Halfway down he nearly ran into one of the monks who was on his way back up.

The monk took one look at him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "There is nothing for you to see down here. I believe you have more pressing concerns, such as a demon coming towards this village. We will help you any way we can, there is something we must finish first." Minato's mind went into a daze. Everything this monk said seemed to make perfect sense, and for some reason there was no need to even question it. Nodding he headed back to his tower. Once inside he stood in the center of his office trying to remember something important, although what he couldn't recall.

Suddenly a jounin appeared in the room for Minato. "Hokage-sama, the nine tailed beast Kyuubi has been seen rampaging up north of here, and he is moving closer to the village." Suddenly the haze cleared from his mind. Konoha was in danger, and he was possibly the only one who could save it. For an instant he wished that Zal would suddenly walk in, the cold yet knowledgeable stare letting him know this was nothing but another day in life, as he had when Minato and Yuki had been kids. Shaking his head he cleared the thought from his mind. He had grown past being forced to lean on someone else. Now they leaned on him, and he wasn't going to let them down.

"Thank you very much. Make the proper changes to get the civilians evacuated. I will prepare a jutsu to fend off the demon. But I require time, I ask that you buy me as much as possible. However don't sacrifice your lives for me, If your lives are endangered I ask that you withdraw." The jounin nodded his head and left as suddenly as he had come.

Minato breathed deeply, then brought his mind to bear on his task. True several men had infiltrated Konoha, and headed to find Zal. For what reasons he was unsure. But he had more immediate concerns to attend to. And he wasn't really worried. Even if they had come to kill him, Zal wasn't exactly easy to kill, even sealed as he was. Minato began the preparations, perhaps the fox coming had been a blessing in disguise. He would have hated to seal the man who had raised him into his new son.

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Yuki was going in labor and this time they were sure it was the real thing. Suddenly she screamed. Something had snapped internally, and she was bleeding inside. For someone as used to pain as she was, her scream meant it was bad. The doctors were rushing back and forth attempting to find this medicine and that. Finally the head doctor came over and sedated her. They needed her to be calm for this birth to turn out a success. They began the final preparations for the birth.

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Rushing to the required room, Minato began to set up the prerequisites for this jutsu. The most powerful one he had ever used. Demons were incapable of using this one. He would be summoning the Shinigami to devour his own soul in trade for sealing the essence of the Kyuubi in his son once he was born. His ninja got into place without hesitation.

This would be a difficult battle they knew, and it was hard to imagine such a beast being beaten by a mere human. But they all trusted their Hokage completely. For a day they fought to the best of their ability. Yet in that time the kyuubi managed to not only withstand all their attacks. But he managed to completely wipe out several clans. Several clans would become nothing more than history. The combat loving clan known as the Irikari clan. Were wiped out to the last man women and child. One young chunnin who had been learning from them was told to evacuate the civilians instead of fight as he wanted to. Mahito Gai swore to himself that he would evacuate all the civilians in such a fast time that he would be on hand before it was even half over, or he would personally bury every body of their clan, of every single person that died. Tears streamed down his face as he heard the death cries of many he had known, as he was unable to help them as the civilians took precedence.

Hatake Kakashi also was locating and evacuating civilians. Unlike the others he was concerned about their Hokage. Whatever he was planning would have to be hard on himself. Regardless of how the Hokage thought. Everyone in the village would give up their life for him, if he planned on sacrificing himself on their benefit then the entire village would be wounded deeply. And with his wife about to give birth, it couldn't be an easy time on him.

Back at the hospital they were unable to move Yuki. She would be giving birth any time now, and moving her could prove fatal. She had woken up from the sedative in record time. And she was much calmer. She asked where Minato was, and was informed he was preforming a jutsu that would save then entire village. Suddenly she had a memory flash to the front of her mind. It was Akira facing the kyuubi and summoning the Shinigami to defeat him. Then her contractions started. For several hours they helped her through the birth process. Eventually the nurse handed her a baby boy. His damp hair as blond as that of his fathers. Yuki told them all to go get Minato, except one to watch the baby with her.

Once Minato was informed he rushed back to her room to find the nurse who had been with Yuki crying, holding the young baby. With a note written to him.

_Minato my love_

_The name shall be as we agreed, Naruto. There is something I must do, don't try to find out what it is or stop me, you have your own duty to fulfill. And I have mine. Be careful with our son, he will be our legacy._

_Signed by the women who loves you most of all the women in Konoha._

_Yuki_

Minato carefully picked up the baby named Naruto. It had been assumed before hand that they would name him with Minatos surname. But he decided against that. "Naruto, of the Uzumakies. You shall grow up strong like your mother, and stubborn like her too. But you will have my drive to protect Konoha, one day you shall be Hokage after me."

Taking naruto with him he began the final portions of his jutsu. An hour or two more and it would be complete.

Yuki understood what Minato was planning. Her memories of the vision she had were being fulfilled before her eyes. She wasn't going to try and stop it from happening. She was simply going to be a part of it. She would protect her baby boy with her life. He was the legacy of the sealmaster clan. He must survive at all costs. She had seen what her father had become like after the death of her mother. Even though many times she had wished he could move on, she knew with the impending death of her husband. She wasn't going to be able to stay sane if she lived. Despite everything she couldn't do as her father had done. She didn't plan on living. Normally the pain in even attempting to channel chakra was to great to overcome. But in this case pain didn't matter, what was pain to someone who didn't plan on living.

Kyuubi was roaring his pleasure as he devoured soul after soul from Konoha. When suddenly he felt a chakra he had felt long ago. Glancing over he saw a dragon rise from the village. However this one was blue, and smelled of her own blood. She had just given birth to a youngling. Her roar said she was protecting something precious to her. He didn't care, all he wanted was to kill. And she was just another target.

Roaring her challenge she rose in the sky sending her signature icy flames crackling towards him. With a mere roar he dispelled them. She had a nearly complete mastery of water, and fire was something she was simply naturally good at. Both thanks to her demon half. However he had complete mastery over all the elements. Simply willing it to disperse caused her attacks to nullify themselves. Realizing that elemental attacks would have no effect she rushed in for close combat.

He met her full on, and stopped all her forwards momentum with no difficulty. Reaching around her head he grabbed ahold of her neck with his teeth he shook he neck roughly till he felt her spine snap, and her body go limp. Roaring his victory such a opponent, he was heard by everyone in Konoha.

Minato was just finishing up the final inscriptions when suddenly Naruto began to cry. Minato picked him up gently and cooed soothingly trying to calm him down. Then he heard the giant roar. Looking out the window he saw Kyuubi standing over the body of a blue dragon. An icy hand took hold of his heart and began to squeeze. He had already known partially that she probably wouldn't want to outlive him. But actually seeing her dead nearly made his body seize up. The only reason he didn't was the crying babe in his arms. Tears began to fall down his cheeks as he whispered to the baby. "Don't cry my son. You shall be the hero of Konoha. Your mother and father won't be able to be with you as you grow up, but the entire village will see you as their savior. You shall not want for love, as the entire village will be your family."

Tears trickled from his face down onto the face of the young baby. How he wanted to see him grow up to be a fine ninja. How he wanted to teach him to throw a Kunai, and how to mold chakra. He wanted to be there to give him advice on girls and laugh as he was chased by the entire village of girls while he would be totally unaware of how cute girls thought he was.

Vaguely he wondered if he could cut a deal to be able to at least watch his son grow up, with the shinigami. Only one way to find out he supposed. Setting him down in the middle of the seal he had inscribed, he finished it on Naruto's stomach. He walked outside and looked at the scene of the carnage. The ninjas stopped fighting to turn and see their beloved Hokage standing there like the savior that they all saw him as. Even Kyuubi sensed the sudden change of all the humans he had been fighting, he turned his head to see a mere human who apparently was going to be his opponent.

Minato preformed several hand seals and quietly said the name of the summoning jutsu. A giant puff of smoke clouded the area for a few seconds, until suddenly a giant toad appeared, with Minato on his head. Minato started going through hand seals at a speed that would rival even Zal at his best. The giant toad named Gamabunta charged in close combat with a katana that was longer than most mountains were high.

Kyuubi roared and engaged him. Minato kept preforming hand seals, as it was a very long jutsu. After a time he told Gamabunta to back away. With one leap they had quite a bit of space between them Minato finished his jutsu. The name of it went unheard although everyone saw its effects. The shinigami appeared behind him in the sky in plain sight. Everyone saw a giant hand reach from Minato's stomach and grab ahold of Kyuubi and rip his soul out of his body, and force him into the tower that the Hokage had been working in. Jiraiya was inside watching the baby with the ex-hokage, the third, and watched the fox being forced into the body of the young baby. A bright flash of light and suddenly it was just the baby with a black seal on his stomach, and some odd black marks on his cheeks. There was a silence as the entire village saw their Hokage posed on top of Gamabunta his hands still together in the shape of his last handseal. Then a cheer went up, from every single person in miles, at their hero as they watched the body of the Kyuubi disappear without a demon to keep it together.

Slowly the Hokage began to tilt forwards, everyone thought he was looking down at them from his throne on top of the majestic toad. Then they stopped cheering as he continued to tilt forwards, until he toppled from atop Gamabunta and fell towards the ground. Suddenly Jiraiya appeared and caught him just before he hit the ground. He gently set him to the ground and felt his pulse. Everyone in konoha practically felt him bow his head in sorrow. The loud cheering turned to screams of anguish. Possibly the most beloved Hokage in history of Konoha, had just died to save them all.

Suddenly the third hokage appeared on top of a nearby pile of rubble. "On this day our Hokage sacrificed himself to seal the kyuubi in this child. On this day a hero is lost, and another one is born! Hail the jailer of the Kyuubi!" He waited for the people to turn their affection towards this child who would grow up as their newest savior. What he heard instead was muttering. "The Kyuubi has taken a new vessel, we should kill it before it matures again!" and other people saying "Thats the demon that killed the Hokage! Kill it!" Things were starting to get out of hand. Sarutobi noticed even some of the ninjas were starting to agree with the crowd.

"SILENCE!" The crowd was suddenly quiet. He may not be the Hokage anymore, but he still had a voice of authority. "This child is a symbol of our fourth Hokage, this is not the kyuubi, but his jailer! Anyone who attempts to harm him will be publicly executed." He understood how they felt. Their beloved hokage was dead and the only one they could blame was not reachable, as he was sealed inside a child. The felt the need to be able to actually have a object to point the blame on, and that object was this child.

He would personally see to it that this child was taken care of. It had been a final promise to Minato, one he intended to keep.

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The demonhunters left one man to guard the stairs, as they continued down to the place where they could sense the demonic chakra emanating from. Upon their arrival they found a room that was locked with a door that was probably stronger than any typical steel. However these were not your typical men either. As one they completed a jutsu that sent the door flying inward. On inspection it was nearly three feet thick.

And there he was. The demon they had heard about. Quite immobile in the middle of the room. One spoke up, voicing what was running through all their minds. "Either they were unable to kill it, or they wanted to save it for a weapon later." They nodded their agreement. Demons were not to be used as weapons, they were to be destroyed before they turned on their supposed masters. After all, how much could you trust creatures who fed on human souls?

Carefully they circled the demon getting ready to purge him from the face of the earth, then it spoke. "Ku ku ku ku. Whats this? Bringing me dinner? How kind of you. I feel like I haven't fed in years... oh wait I haven't. They were unable to see the demon clearly, as black chakra swarmed all over the body. But the eyes glowed menacing enough that they had no doubts of how evil this creature was.

They began their jutsu, all the while the the only visible parts of the demon were his red eyes and gleaming teeth. He chuckled as they continued. An easy target, bound as he was, he would be unable to get free. Finally they finished and in union they named their jutsu. **Light Style: Wraith of Kami!**

Zal laughed as their jutsu started. "Fools! You didn't even notice what surrounded you did you? Look around and realize what you have done!" Not stopping their jutsu they spared a glance around them. Suddenly their leader gasped. The seals that held him in place... they were demonic! And the holy power of their jutsu had just weakened them greatly.

Zal roared as he broke free. Then he seemed to split into eight different images. Each one a different color. It became apparent that each was fully capable of using a different element as well. Seven of them engaged different demonhunters. While one walked from the room unnoticed by the demonhunters who found themselves evenly matched with these mere clones.

The demonhunter on the stairs was killed before he even knew what had happened. The one leaving was the real Zal, the others simply elemental clones. He was free finally. Noticing outside Kyuubi was on a rampage destroying Konoha, he felt no regrets. He however felt it was his duty to destroy these demonhunters once and for all. They had proven to be useful, but that would no longer be the case. Jumping from the ground all the way to the top of the five floor hospital he smirked. Most of the patients had been evacuated already. To bad, a few more souls would have been nice, but this would have to do. Spreading his wings he flew high above the hospital and began to gather chakra at his mouth. After a few moments he let loose an mini-ultima, that tore through the hospital like it was a toy house hit by a tornado. He felt the chakra of the demonhunters inside wink out suddenly. As he devoured their souls, leaving their shredded bodies. Feeling satisfied they had been destroyed he took one last look at Kyuubi ravishing the town he had spent the last few years in.

Feeling something calling to him he turned and flew away. His soul was being caressed, and there had only ever been one person who had done that to him. She had been born again recently, perhaps nine months ago. He had every intention of finding her. His soulmate would be with him once again.

**END PART ONE **

**AN: Dun dun dun da dun! Alternate finished!! I demand votes!! votes say! Oh first you might wanna see where the next chapter will be leading. whichever you guys decide you like best will determine a huge change in the storyline. both chapters lead different directions. Heres a peek of the one you will get if you pick this chapter. **

Zal arrived in the town that seemed closest to where he felt her soul. They had been bonded before, she was nearby. He would best be able to tell where she was if she was holding his soulstone. It had worked, the jutsu that he had thought failed had simply had a delayed reaction. Maemi was reborn. Finding her had proved difficult, but he was this close, he wouldn't fail now. For some reason though he could swear he could feel a familiar chakra signature. It almost felt like Kyuubi's, but he doubted that. One second some loud brat nearby was complaining to his sensei about teaching him a new jutsu or something like that. The man had poked fun at him about something about a hyuuga girl back in Konoha, that made a chakra spike up for a second. At that instant Zal actually looked towards them, for a second he could swear he had felt Kyuubi. Perhaps he really had gone crazy. Maybe Maemi really wasn't alive again, and he had simply lost his mind. But he refused to believe that. Any chance she was alive he would search down till all chance of it being true had been exhausted.


	19. MUST READ

Well In case those reading don't know. I decided to go with Clash of the Biju. It ended up being more popular, and I personally liked it a little better. Part two is called "Legacy of the Sealmasters". It will focus mainly on Naruto, although a good portion will be on Zal as well. It will also focus partially on Gaara. I want to thank everyone for supporting me, and continuing to read and review. I personally know how easy it is to just, speed read, then continue to the next story without reviewing. So thanks to all those who spared a second for me. I hope you all enjoy Legacy of the Sealmasters. Thats all for now.


	20. Creation of the Sealmasters

**AN: I completely spaced this chapter. So now I'm going to put it at the end of part one. Kinda the extra tidbit that you never knew, explains a bit maybe who knows. Read and review please.**

Creation of the Sealmasters

Neo Bahamut glanced quizzically at his father. The black scaled Bahumut continued. "Well it's your call. But in my opinion creating a bloodline limit with humans would be a positive thing. After all, a successful one you would be able to use as well. And theres no such thing as not having room for improvement."

Neo shifted around in their cavern. While it was true that he was always looking for more ways to become more powerful. Using humans for a method seemed... unreliable. "So what your saying is that all I have to do is find a strong human and preform a ritual, and WHAM a new bloodline limit will be created?"

His father sighed. "No I'm not saying that. First you would need a **willing** human. Second yes he would need to be strong. Third it would be best if his mindset was similar to yours. The greatest bloodline limits were created after the demon who was the donor for the chakra searched for years to find the right one. Theres one that allows the user to use his own bones as weapons. The demon who created this one was slightly insane, but a truly powerful fighter. He found a human who was also a bit on the crazy end of the scale, but was also a great fighter. The result is a clan who loves nothing more than combat, and is fully capable of taking down nearly any opponents. Though the recent offspring of the clan seem to be having worse and worse cases of insanity, thats to be expected considering they are all inbred."

Neo considered the possibilities. He wasn't to fond of the idea of mixing his chakra with a human, but he couldn't deny that he wanted to know what the result would be. Finally he agreed to go search for someone who he would think was compatible. And off he flew into the night. For thirty years he searched to find the person who would be the right one to inherit his power. To him it was as a day. After all for someone who sleeps one hundred years at a time, what is a mere thirty?

One night he found it. The man destined to become the first of his line. He was training in a stance that was created purely for defense, and obviously he wasn't satisfied. The man had just had a argument with his sensei. His sensei told him he was not calm enough and that seeking battles was not the way. He told his sensei that there had to be more to life than just reacting to the things around you. He was tired of simply doing things because something else happened first. He was tired of reacting, he wanted to **act**.

So he was out in the night, using this fighting style that so irritated him, because he knew nothing else. Training but not feeling his inner fire quenched. He wanted to become stronger, he wanted to feel a challenge of his opponent, and not always be the one waiting for the other to strike first. In midstrike a crimson dragon settled to the ground right in front of him. His first thought was "Wow. I've never seen anything so majestic." His next thought was "Oh shit!"

He slowly tried to back away, hoping it hadn't noticed him, even though it was looking right at him. A loud noise cause him to look behind him, and then he noticed that the dragons tail was cutting off his retreat. "I'm so dead." most men would have though about either some women back home, or wishing they would have the chance to find one. His thoughts were "Is this really the end? Am I really not going to find a fighting style that fulfills me?" Finally deciding that he couldn't run he steeled his will and roared his defiance at being this dragons dinner. Rushing forwards leaped into the air and spun kicked the dragons nose as hard as he could, at least he was going to make it work for its dinner. Then he found out why everyone wanted dragon skin armor. IT WAS HARD AS HELL!

Lying on the ground cringing and nursing his sore foot the, dragon tilted his head. Then the man was shocked when he heard it speak. "Am I really to believe that by making you more powerful I in turn can become more powerful as well? Well I suppose if it turns out a failure I'll just tell him I never found a human worthy of my power. Then he can't gloat that he played another trick on me." The man was awed. Had this dragon just spoke? And even more so, just talked about making him more powerful. As a kid of course he had heard legends of demons selling power to humans at the cost of that humans soul. But as he got older of course he knew that was just stories, and no substance. Suddenly he considered. Would he sell his soul for more power? If it meant quenching this fire burning inside him... then yes he would, without even hesitating.

The man stood on his feet, trying not to show how shaky he was on the inside. Bowing his head he said "Your majesty, I am willing to undertake whatever you ask!" The dragon tilted his head. A human who actually knew respect. Rare indeed, perhaps this was indeed the one.

"Get on my back then. I will prepare the ceremony right away. There is much to do." The man nodded and climbed on top. It wasn't until the dragon stood up completely that he realized just how high off the ground he was. Gulping slightly he proclaimed that he was ready. With a bunching of his muscles the dragon crouched slightly, then leaped off the ground spreading his enormous wings to engulf the night sky.

The first thing running through the mans mind was pure terror. Man was not meant to fly. He had lived his entire life on the ground. But he was no different than most humans, he had envied the birds at one time or another. Seeming to be unbound by the thing they called gravity. Yes he had longed to defy gravity and fly. But it was one of those dreams that you know will never really come true. Yet here he was actually flying. The wind had never felt the way it did now, not in his entire life had he felt so truly blessed. All to soon it was over. And they were descending to a valley that was in actuality higher than most mountaintops he had seen in his life. The elevation was such that most humans would never even attempt to climb there, because of this they would never know it existed.

For days the dragon told him what would happen, the rituals they must go through. And that the final result was impossible to predict. If he was not suited well enough then he would die. Their minds would have to be similar enough to avoid this. As well as their personalities. The dragon set him in a cave for several months to concentrate on his task. He would need to be completely focused for it to work. The dragon would bring him food, and there was a water source a bit deeper in the cave, so all his needs were taken care of. For nearly eight months, he focused his mind. When the dragon came to pick him up finally for the ritual, he seemed drained. The man realized that this dragon must not have been simply waiting around but indeed working hard to make sure everything was in order. This dragon wanted this as much as he did, although he still did not know what the dragon would get out of the deal. At this point he didn't care.

Reaching the spot for the ritual he saw incredible amounts of seals covering a flat stone dais where the ritual itself was to take place. As he walked towards the center he noticed something. The seals were not like anything he had ever seen. Complex to the point that it gave him a headache just looking at them, but they also were a dark red. There was only one substance he had ever seen that particular hue of red... blood. It was then he noticed how slow the dragon was moving. In an instant it came to him. This dragon had spent this entire time, these eight months inscribing these seals with his own blood. Had this ever been done before he wondered? Not in his entire life had he heard even rumors of anything like this. Was he truly going to be the first person in history to truly bond his chakra with a dragon?

The dragon proclaimed that it was time. It was now he became truly amazed. The dragons body began to glow, and dark seals began to glow on different parts of his body. He began to shrink. And transform, when he was finally done he stood on two legs. He looked almost human, if not for the horns on his head, the wings on his back, the tail from his lower back, perhaps it was the scales. Or maybe the fact he was over ten feet tall. Then he spoke "For now I have mastered the sealing of my body up to the sixth seal. Once I have mastered all the seals I will look completely human, although that wont be for a few hundred more years. Regardless, let the ritual begin."

Gesturing he walked to the center of the stone dais, and stood with his wings extended and his arms extended towards the ground, palms facing behind him. The man took his place behind the dragon man, facing the other direction. But in the same body style. Arms downward palms facing towards the dragon man. The ritual began.

"Bai Ju Hei Mel Zeim Jai Uni Ju Zen Bai Zeim Bai Jai Zen Zen Ju Uni Zen Hei Bai Ju Uni Uni Mel Zeim." Shifting their legs slightly they then changed the position of their arms to have the left one extended out bent at the elbow pointing down, palm facing towards each other. The right arm was extended out as well, bent at the elbow pointing upwards, palm facing away from each other. They continued chanting again. "Ju Mel Bai Uni Zen Ju Ju Zeim Hei Bai Mel Zeim Zeim Hei Bai Ju Uni Jai Zen Mel Ju Zeim." Turning around they faced eachother palms crossing faced downwards. The chanting continued. "Mel Zeim Bai Ju Ju Zen Bai Jai Zen Hei Uni Mel Ju Jai Zeim Hei Bai Ju Zeim." The chanting was unlike the man had heard before he came here, because it wasn't human chants, they were demonic.

The seal on which the stood began to glow during the chanting, and grew brighter a time went on. Their chakra began to manifest itself around their bodies as they chanted, every now and then changing positions to continue the ritual. Then the chakra began to mix and intertwine. Demon chakra, and human chakra. Unlike the changes and intermixing of chakra from a demon container, this is brought about by the free will of both parties while in their own bodies. The ritual itself also changes many things, including the DNA of those participating. Both of their chakra's began to change. The humans got blacker than before. And his pupils began to change shape. Diamonds began to form facing opposite directions, as his pupil began to change color slightly. Originally his eyes were a brown color. Afterwards they were a brilliant blue. Originally his hair was also brown, afterwards it was flaming red. His canine teeth grew slightly longer than normal as well. Their chakra continued to combine, in a way similar to two types of metal melting together, forming something new.

The ritual lasted for nine days. At the end the seals that were created on the ground, imprinted themselves on the bodies of the two standing on top, and disappeared. Pure exhaustion set in and they fell to the ground, sleep setting in.

After two days of sleeping they woke up again. Neo glanced over and words were taken from his mouth. He had expected change but this was astounding. The man had wings exactly like his, and a tail to match. He had grown taller as well, nearly reaching eight feet. His eyes no longer had diamonds around the pupil but a ring, that seemed created from liquid. The man spoke first. "Your eyes! They have changed!" Finding a nearby stream he glanced down and saw that indeed his eyes had undergone the same change. Even so there was a more noticeable change. He could feel the man as if they still had their chakra intertwined.

For awhile they began to experiment with the bond. They found they could send chakra and even basic thoughts through it. There was much more to this they both knew. But they would need offspring to see its full effects. Neo took another final look at the man. "You have been remade. As of now your old identity means nothing. Your new name is Zalagrim Ukriz. The origin of this name comes from the language I grew up with. The name Zalagrim means 'Controller of Chaos'. The name Ukriz means 'The Ruler of the Elite'. This is as much of a name as a title. Those who come after you will take the name and title after your passing. This clan will be known as the demon clan! For every child from henceforth shall have a demon sealed within its belly from the moment of its birth. Henceforth! The Sealmaster clan has been born!"

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After a few years of searching they found a woman who Neo Bahamut decided was worthy of bearing the first children of the clan. The first demon sealed within her child was a young dragon who's family wanted to gain favor with their king. It was then Neo and Zalagrim discovered the true potential of their new bloodline limit. When the child was born it was like their two way bond had become a three way one. Zal's and Neo's bond with the child was just as strong as theirs with eachother. Although they could send it chakra it seemed that it would need time to mature before it could send any back. They began to make plans for the clan. The clan would be three sections. The fighting section who dedicated their time to being capable of using massive amounts of chakra as well as using that chakra to become capable of incredibly destructive jutsu's. Demons sealed within these would be those who could were capable of massive destruction. Such as bull demons or wolverine demons.

The second section would be dedicated to gaining massive amounts of chakra. They would be the 'Reserves' for those fighters to draw from. They would have massive chakra amounts, as such the demons sealed within them would be the kind with massive amounts or massive regeneration of chakra. The demons for these would likely older demons who had massive chakra amounts but were not capable of fighting effectively anymore.

The third section would be the ones who took care of the normal things for clans. Such as gardening, paperwork, and other things of the sort. The demons for these didn't really matter as much, however they would still be trained in giving their chakra to the elite fighters should they need it. Everyone in the clan would have at the very least some combat training, as one can never tell when they would need to fight. One section was not above the other. All were equally needed, and important. Therefore rank as such was unimportant. There would be three people from each section who would make up a council. With the Zalagrim as the final decision. The Zalagrim would be the most powerful fighter in the clan. Period. The only ones who status was higher than others would be the council and the Zalagrim.

It was discovered that chakra transfer could be as far as three miles for an average person in the clan. However it was possible to create a chain. Using a chain the distance would be only as limited as the amount of people they had to use it. Of course the chakra transferal was kept a secret within the clan. Shortly after the clan reached a decent size they were already rapidly becoming known as one of the most powerful clans in their country. And their warriors only got stronger the more people they gained.

But as time went on they quickly discovered their genetics had grown not only accustomed to demon chakra, but needed it. Any child born had about twenty four hours after its birth to have a demon sealed within. At first the clans goal had been to increase as quickly as possible, so as to gain as much power as possible. However once this new genetic factor came into play they limited the amount of children allowed to two per family. As demons are not extremely easy to come by. The clan also became famous for hunting demons, but while outsiders thought this was to rid the world of demons, it was to capture them for future children.

The first , the fighting section contained about thirty skilled fighters. These were known as warriors without equal. They seemed to have unlimited chakra and stamina. As they always traveled in groups of three, casualties was unheard of, as they also had incredible healing abilities.

The second section, the reserves contained about eighty people. Their forte was of course huge chakra reserves as well as inhuman chakra regeneration. Of course they knew very little in the way of actual fighting, so most of them simply meditated all day and trained back at the clan's small village. There was an additional group which was placed in section two for the sole purpose as creating chains for when the fighters needed to go an extended distance from home. These were trained mainly in stealth, and were not as skilled in combat or chakra reserves as the others, however they were placed in section two rather than create an entirely new one.

Section three was everyone else, which of course was not governed by ideal numbers such as the other two groups. All groups were trained since they were young to have a completely unbreakable devotion to the clan, as well as to the Zalagrim. After the first Zalagrim died of old age he passed his title down to his firstborn son, as he did, and his son did. For years. After awhile they decided a change was needed. The council voted and decided the Zalagrim should be someone who didn't have to worry about age like the others. They approached Neo Bahamut, the clans patron and requested that he become the permanent Zalagrim. After careful consideration he agreed. While he was not to fond of administrative work, an immortal figurehead was indeed something that would serve to increase their power. Among the villagers and demons he became known as Zalagrim Neo Bahamut. Among those outside he was known as Zalagrim Ukriz.

Eventually they created their own actual village, that was recognized as such by even the nearby villages. Granted it was smaller than many of the others, but even so. Before even though they called it their village it was actually just a bunch of buildings with a wooden barricade surrounding them keeping wild animals out. The most powerful village for miles around. So quite natural that many of the other villages had an incredible fear when they heard it was destroyed by one man. The demon clan destroyed by one man? There was no way someone capable of such a thing was human. The area where it had once stood became an area avoided by all. For years afterwards legends of the place still existed. And those who set out to go there never came back.

**AN: Dun dun dun! I haff finished! Read and review if you will. You now have my take on bloodlines and their connection to Demons! What do you think? I must know! Also I'm going to start on part two soon, since it seems not enough people want to give me their opinion I'm just going to go with whichever has the most when I start.**


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